The Gentlemen - Book 1
by MasterAskim
Summary: Bella Dwyer was an average girl until tragedy strikes and her life is turned upside-down by the mysterious organization known only as "The Gentlemen". Bella must learn to navigate the web of intrigue these power-brokers weave around her and decide once and for all who she can trust before time runs out for her and her new allies. Rated M for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own anything Twilight related  
**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife cutestkidsmom and my beta eternally edward's girl for their help and encouragement.  
**

_"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day without any mistakes in it?". L.M Montgomery_

_"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake" Napoleon Bonaparte_

**Chapter 1**

My name is Bella Dwyer, where my story begins is simple enough, where it ends up you won't see coming, I know I didn't. The best way to tell my story is to start from when I was just ordinary. How with just one lie my simple life changed forever.

"Isabella Marie Dwyer, I swear if you don't get your butt down here right now I will come up there and drag you down by your hair!" My mother, I love her dearly, I do. But she has a tendency to freak out on occasion.

"Chill mom, I am coming geez. I'm Valedictorian, they kind of need me!" She rarely sees logic. Her hippy ways have clouded things.

She is all I have had in this world, and I am all she has had in hers. My first memory I have of me and my mom is when we went to a cactus festival. She believes they can hear us and in their own way they can communicate with us. Whatever, maybe they do. All the scientific research I have done on the topic has not dis-proven her theory, so I'll let her have that.

I grab my orange cap and gown and rush down the stairs. "Mia seriously, you walk like an elephant. Can you slow down and pretend to be a lady?"

"Well excuse me Lady Renee for rushing, did you or did you not threaten my luscious raven hair would be tugged if I had not meandered faster?" I said rather sarcastically.

She shakes her head, "OK smart ass, very funny and witty might I add." She grabs my hand and wraps me into a smothering hug. "God I love you Bella, I am so proud of you."

I look up and see a tear sliding down her cheek. "Awe mom, don't cry please. You know if you cry, I cry." I hug her extra tight. She might be the mom but most of the time I feel like it's me who takes care of her.

"I know I never talk about your dad Bella, but he was a brilliant man. You remind me so much of him. If he were alive he would be in awe of you." She says between sobs.

My dad.

My mother tells me he died when I was six months old from a brain aneurism. Beyond that I don't know much about him, besides that he loved me and was really smart.

"Thanks mom." And that is that, I am not good with feelings. "Let's go get me all graduated and shit."

"Bella! Watch your mouth!" She gasps.

We get into her reliable faded-yellow 1967 Volkswagen bug and take one last drive to Forks High School. It's the only high school in our small town of Forks, Washington. Population: 3175. I've gone to school with the same one hundred kids for twelve years. It's pretty cool though, I hate meeting new people and I haven't in, well, twelve years.

"Gold, I don't get it mom, the colors are gold and blue. They could have used blue instead." I groaned.

"Bella, it doesn't really matter the color. You look good in anything, and you only have to wear it once." She slides her fingers through my hair and gives my shoulder a squeeze before returning her hand to the wheel.

"I know, you're right. I guess I am being all weird because I am terrified about my speech. I hate public speaking, what if I make a mistake?"

I look over at her, she shrugs. "So what if you do? There's always tomorrow, and you know what I always say." I nod even though I know she'll say it anyway. "Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day without any mistakes in it?" See, told you.

"Yes mom, I know I know, you're right, again." I chuckle, and the next thing I know we are there.

The good thing about having the last name of Dwyer means I'm am one of the first people to go up and receive their diploma. Unfortunately though, I am Valedictorian, so I have to go up before anyone and give my speech.

My mother patiently sat with me for hours listening to about eighty different versions. Each one she said the same thing. "It's wonderful hunny. You're so talented sweetheart."

So here I sit next to Embry Call, also known as the boogeyman. Since I've known him he was a closet booger eater, gross I know. He is the sweetest guy but I could never get past his unique cuisine choices. Brady Fuller is on the other side of me. We are always grouped together. He is kind, but quiet. He has black frizzy hair and his glasses are like two magnifying glasses.

My observation of my peers is interrupted by our principal calling my name for me to deliver my speech. As I stand up I desperately look for my mother. Only her eyes and her smile can anchor my nerves. I have it all worked out, I will pretend it is just another dry run. "Just pretend you are practicing with me" She said last night when I woke up from a nightmare. I dreamed that as I was reading my speech a tornado swept in and stripped me naked. Everyone was laughing at me. It was awful!

I take the podium and clear my throat. The echo is like thunder. I truly think I am going to faint. Deep breathes. The principal puts his hand on my shoulder, "Are you alright Bella?"

I open my eyes and there she is, smiling. It is like the sun shines just on her. I see a glimmer of a tear fall, and I know I can do this. "Yes I am fine, thank you." And I am perfect.

After I deliver my speech flawlessly, I step down, blow my mom a kiss, and take my seat. Thank God for that woman. We all listen as the guest speaker does her thing. We all stand as our school song is sung. I listen intently knowing it is the last time I will hear it.

"We're loyal to your Forks High, we're pulling for you Forks High." It really is a terrible song, it speaks of mountains, and waterfalls, something about fortresses and hearts and hands. A lot of "Go Spartans!" and "Rah Rah's!" I stop listening.

Finally our names are being called. I am still nervous but after delivering my speech I feel slightly invincible. Embry gets up and receives his diploma. I laugh at his parents, they cheer and scream and hold up signs. He blushes and gives them a timid wave. He sits back down with a shrug, but I can see the pride in his face as he grips his future in his hands.

Then, "Isabella Marie Dwyer". That's me. I rise and take the walk to freedom. With this diploma everything I ever wanted will be mine. I have received a full scholarship to Oxford University, in England. It is exciting but nerve racking. I knew we couldn't afford much; I thought that I would end up at a community college, especially since I was only seventeen. I was graduating early and I never thought any college would want a seventeen year old. But, they did. I applied on a whim after my mother pushed me to.

I always wanted to travel and she said this was a perfect opportunity. "Two birds with one Stone" I remembered my mother chuckling as I groaned at the age-old cliche. So here I am, taking the walk of a seventeen year old Valedictorian of Forks high. The diploma feels like freedom and independence. It feels like happiness and sadness all rolled into one. I look over to my mom, she is cheering for me louder than any other parent. It is both embarrassing and exciting.

Where I feel fear she feels adventure, when I cry she makes us laugh. I am growing up and she is too. This step will be big for us, we will be so far from each other and I hope she will consider moving closer to me so I can have her near me. I try to convince myself it's because she needs me, but I'm not fooling anyone. I'm scared, she's my mom, and her hugs are home.

Caps are thrown in the air, the band plays and family and friends flood the football field. My mother grabs me and spins me around till I am dizzy.

"My Bella, my beautiful, amazing, brilliant Bella, you did it, you did it!" She is screaming it for everyone to hear.

"Thanks mom." We stop spinning; I look into her pale green eyes. Her short brown hair is extra curly from the humidity. I take in her unique scent of cider and sandalwood. I note her brown flip flops and her hand-made sundress. I gather it all up into my mind; this was a moment to keep. "None of this could be what it is without you mom, I love you."

She laughs and cries, and spins me around a little bit more. "Let's go eat sweetie, I'm starving."

I'm not sure where we are headed, but I just don't care. My mom has this gigantic grin plastered to her face and is humming some tune. I ask her what tune it is; she says it's The Beach Boys.

After about an hour she pulls the car over to the side of the road and hops out. I look around and all I see is miles of nothingness. "Hey Mom, where are we?"

"Get out Bella, I have a surprise." She opens the trunk and pulls out a picnic basket and a large blanket.

We walk for about five minutes and then she stops and opens up the blanket, "Sit." She says.

"Mom, this is weird, you are being cryptic." I say.

She says nothing; she just puts a plate and a cup in front of me. She pours us both water, pulls out apples, carrots, and a tofu and alfalfa sprouts salad. She keeps eying me. I think she is going to speak but she just starts eating without saying a word.

I can't take it anymore, "Mom please talk to me." I yell.

She starts laughing, "Okay, okay you win, here." She hands me an envelope. I just sit there staring at it. "Open it Bella, it won't bite."

After a deep breath, I slip my finger through the seal and pull out…tickets? "Mom?" I look at her quizzically.

"Read them." She says with a little giddiness in her voice.

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. "No way, we are going to St. Thomas?"

She shakes her head enthusiastically, "Yep!"

"When?" I ask excitedly.

"Tomorrow!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own anything Twilight related  
**

******Thank-you to my lovely wife cutestkidsmom my pre-reader pricana and my beta eternally edward's girl for their help and encouragement.**  


**Chapter 2**

I never liked the idea of flying, the thought of rocketing through the air in a compressed metal tube just never really appealed to me. Fortunately, at least until now, I have never had to address the issue, but now it was either face it or miss out on a fantastic vacation with my favorite person in the world.

"C'mon Bella, get your shoes and let's go. The plane isn't going to wait for us!" My mother waited as I retrieved my carry-on, shoes, belt and jewelry from the dingy grey bins that slide down the conveyer belts through the x-ray scanner. Of course my bra set off the metal detector, so after a little-too-thorough-for-my-taste pat down that reminded me of a disappointing make-out session in high school, I was free to go and the skies were safe from whatever terroristic threat could be concealed in my underwire.

"Isn't this exciting Bella? Your first time on an airplane!" My mother always knows just what to say to put me at ease. When I first broached the subject of being nervous of flying, my mother told me to "Look at everything like an adventure and you won't have time to be scared." I know, it sounds like something you would find in a fortune cookie, but I guess she was right…it was working. I found myself watching people coming from their planes and those rushing to catch flights to faraway places; working-class businessmen, blue collar baggage handlers, and exotic vacationers all mingling about without a care for how different their lives were. But this was the point where they all intersected.

Gate 23 was not what I expected at all. First, there was no gate really; it was just a doorway and a desk with a very official looking woman with the whitest smile I have ever seen. A bunch of seats with a random cross-section of America sitting around with carry-on luggage and assorted electronics were the only other indications that this was a waiting area. I am puzzled at the fact that the first few rows of seats are empty and wonder if maybe the lady behind the desk smells bad or something. I soon realize the lady has nothing to do with it; the only outlets are on the farthest wall and everyone is huddled around trying to make sure they don't drain the precious life from the batteries of their electronic devices. I smile at my mother and we roll our eyes at the "techies" who choose to burden themselves with such things. This is a vacation for us, and while we don't use such devices in our everyday lives, the few we did use were not what we considered necessities. So, we found ourselves sitting right next to the front desk knowing we would be first in line for boarding.

"Attention passengers at gate 23, two first class seats have opened up and we will upgrade the first two passengers who come to the check-in desk and claim this upgrade free of charge. Thank-you and enjoy flying Air…"

"We'll take them!" I stand up and bump into the counter with my mother's wrist in my hand. "Renee and Bella Dwyer, here are our boarding passes…" I thrust my boarding papers into the woman's face; she takes them and exchanges them for our first class passes.

"Thank you Miss Dwyer, you will be able to board now, please follow the red carpet."

I feel like a little bit of a rock star as we are permitted to board the plane ahead of all the other passengers. I spent my entire life waiting in lines and never being first for anything, so I am not too proud to admit that it feels really good. My mother looks embarrassed, I can tell she isn't used to this either.

"Treat it like an adventure Mom and you won't have time to be scared." I whisper to her, she smiles, and gives my hand a squeeze as we walk hand in hand down the tunnel to our plane.

The "first class" section of the plane is more decadent then I was prepared for. I expected a little more legroom and maybe a free soda, but apparently some actual rock-star had missed his flight and prepaid for the "Ambassador's package" whatever that was; and we, due to a twist of fate, had inherited it. As soon as the flight attendants realized we had been upgraded, and my mother informed them this was my first flight and that neither one of us had ever done "first class anything", the attendants went into full swing giving us the royal treatment. I was reminded of the scene in The Wizard of Oz when the girl and her friends get all cleaned up by the tiny people before going to see the big floating head. I giggle thinking of the giant head piloting the plane, and my mother looks at me quizzically. I just shrug and smile as the flight attendant brings her a mimosa and me a sparkling white grape juice.

"This is living!" Sighs my mother contentedly as she leans back in her extra cushioned seat. "I could get used to this…."

"Oh yeah, don't get too used to it…. It probably cost more than my college will, and I mean the actual building… not the tuition." I tease her.

"There is only one bad thing about this…." My mother whispers to me. "The flight home in coach after this is going to be unbearable!"

I laugh, she is right though, it's going to be.

We make it to our destination, and after a surprisingly short cab ride we arrive at the hotel. Our luck was holding out, as our rooms had been accidentally booked as suites, meaning we got the better rooms on the beach side of the hotel at no extra cost. After changing out of my traveling clothes, my mother knocks on my door, and when I let her in she gives me a devilish look and says the magic word…

"Shopping?"

Now some people shop for items they need, some shop for bargains, and some shop to be the first to get their hands on that new book, or piece of technology they are convinced will enrich their lives. My mother and I are totally different. When we shop for fun we are on a treasure hunt. We look for the most unique item that will forever remind us of the experience. Every "treasure hunt" I have ever gone on with my mother has netted me a unique item, and I always remember where I got it and the circumstances around it. Since this is a very special trip, I have no doubt that the item I find would be equally special.

"Let's show them how it's done!" I say, grabbing my bag with my hotel room key in it. "I can't wait to see what kind of treasures we can find here."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" My mother asks, and I remember we always agree on a spending limit, otherwise we'd have a new wardrobe but would starve to death.

"Fifty bucks?" I ask. We usually settle on thirty, but this trip was special and I figured we could splurge a little.

"Fifty Bella? Really?" My mother frowns, and my heart sinks a little. "I was thinking more along the lines of a hundred!" My mother's devilish smile returns and she pulls out a wad of cash and hands me five crisp twenty dollar bills, takes five for herself, and puts the rest of the cash in her bag's hidden pocket. "Let's roll!" she sings out merrily, and we were off to hit every tourist trap within walking distance of our hotel.

My mother finds a nice treasure in the third place we hit. It is a necklace with a unique pendant design that makes her stop in her tracks and pick it up immediately. It has a green stone set in it that matches her eyes exactly. It didn't have a price on it, so my mother went and haggled with the owner for a few minutes until they settled on sixty-five dollars and my mother left with her treasure. The pendant was a collection of interlocking rings and gave the impression of being an "impossible shape" as my mother called it, the three interlocking rings all ran into each other, but then the pendant moved and the number of rings appeared to change from three to four. I had to admit though, it was beautiful and the stone, while obviously a fake just based on the size of it, was one of the best fakes I have ever seen.

I was almost ready to give up and try again another day, when I finally found my treasure. It sounds corny, but it is a huge 18-inch water globe with a realistic underwater scene and a little scuba diver in it. It has a light, plays music, and even has little bubbles that float to the top, where a little fisherman in a boat waits in vain for one of the colorful fish to nibble on his hook. I fell in love with it immediately, and the price was right; sixty dollars and it was mine.

We make it back to the hotel with our treasures, and decide to have our first dinner in paradise on the hotel patio right off the beach. "Just let me get this put away and get cleaned up, and I'll meet you in the lobby." I tell my mother as we parted company in the hotel hallway.

"Don't be long, I'm starving." My mother kisses my forehead and heads to her room.

I unwrap my treasure and inspect it for any cracks it may have gotten during the trip back to the hotel. It seems fine, so I put it on my nightstand and go to the bathroom to brush my hair and to get changed for dinner.

By the time I make it down to the lobby, my mother is already there. There she stood in her simple dress with her loosely tied hair. She couldn't have looked better if she was in a ballroom gown; she always looked great. She is talking with a tall, muscular, well-tanned man. She is listening intently to whatever he is telling her when she spots me and waves.

"Bella! I want you to meet… I'm sorry, what was your name?" she turned to the man who looked very comfortable in his beach pants, flip-flops and Hawaiian shirt.

"Michael Newton, just call me Newt..." he extended a hand, "nice to meet you Bella."

"Newt was just telling me he does wreck diving tours, doesn't that sound fun?" My mother is gushing, and why shouldn't she? Newt looks like he fell right off of a Calvin Klein billboard, with his rugged good looks, perfect days-worth of blond stubble, and easy smile. She is only human.

"Not really my thing Mom, but if you want to do it you should." My treasure was one thing, but I had no desire to be the little scuba diver; perhaps the fisherman.

"Listen no sales pitch, but I have a clear day tomorrow and I'll make you a good deal." Newt obviously has no trouble getting the ladies to listen to him. "Take my card, and if you want to see the best part of the island, give me a call, and I'll give you the best guided tour you'll ever have." He slips my mother his card and without another word turns and walks away.

"You know Bella, it wouldn't kill you to try something new you know." My mother sounds exasperated as she looks at the card Newt had given to her.

"I thought he was a little old for me, but if you insist…." I start walking after Newt.

"Bella! Get back here!" My mother whispered fiercely. Then she giggles, "He was really cute though wasn't he?"

"Mom, let's go eat before you make me lose my appetite."

The next morning, I wake to my mother knocking at my door. "Bella wake up, we have a big day ahead of us!"

"Go away… this is a vacation!" I growl at the door, knowing I will never get back to sleep. I am already kicking off the covers and heading toward the door. I open it to my mother's smiling face wearing a very skimpy bikini top and a beach wrap. "What's with you this morning?" I yawn, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as my mother lets my suite door close behind her.

"I called him!" my mother bursts out giggling like a little girl.

"Him? Him who?" I ask, wondering if I am missing something important.

"Him! Newt, Captain McHunky of the SS Naughty Dreams!" My mother spins in a slow circle. "How do I look?"

"Wait, what?" My head is swimming. "You're going on the wreck dive thing?" I ask, trying to make sense of this conversation, realizing that it is going to be a losing battle without caffeine.

"_We're _going sleepy, c'mon, get ready. He's coming to get us in an hour. You didn't answer me, how do I look?"

"You look great mom, you always do... Umm, wreck diving is not really my thing, so I'd rather just stay here if that's okay…" I can sense I'm not going to win this one, but I am willing to give it a shot. The idea of swimming around underwater is not even remotely what I consider to be a good time.

"Already thought of, my dear little aquaphobe! Newt has a wonderful boat. You can work on your tan, and still spend the day with your thirty-two year old mother." And there it is… I have already lost this one.

"Thirty-two? So you had me when you were fifteen?" I brush out my hair and get changed into some beach clothes. "Not really the message you want to convey I think mom."

"Okay smarty pants thirty-seven… but that's my final offer!" My mother is checking and adjusting her cleavage in the mirror. "Are you sure this looks okay?"

"You look fine Mom. Newt is in for a real treat..." My mother is entitled to a little fun. I'm not the least bit worried. "Okay I'm ready; let's grab some coffee before he gets here."

We get to the lobby and Newt is already waiting. He is wearing the same shin-length, beige beach pants, and had traded the Hawaiian shirt in for a black tank top that looked like it was painted on. He spots us immediately and smiles while waving us over to him.

"Be nice..." whispers my mother as she waves back. "this will be fun, I promise."

"I'm always nice." I whisper back, and then I see the take-out tray with three coffees in Newt's hand. My opinion of him improves instantly.

"Ready for the best tour on the islands?" Newt's smile stays on his face as he looks appreciatively at my mother's outfit. "Wow, look at you!" He whistles and winks at her.

"Ready as we'll ever be." My mother giggles. "Bella isn't going to dive, so I guess you will have to be my dive buddy while she watches the boat and works on her tan."

"Works for me." said Newt as he turns to lead us to his battered Jeep. "Your chariot awaits ladies." He makes a sweeping bow, and I notice a large tattoo on his right shoulder. It has writing, but I can't make it out and I don't want to stare.

I ride in the back while my mother rides up front with Newt. He points out a few sights on the way to the marina, and tells some jokes. My mother laughs easily and I enjoy seeing her so happy and relaxed, and start to enjoy myself. I let the coffee do its work, it has a little too much sugar, but I gulp it down anyway.

"Here we are" Newt announces, as he pulls up to slip 94. I have to admit the boat is a sight. I have never been on one before, but I have to say if I were to describe it I would have to use the term "small yacht" and not the weathered charter boats that inhabited the other slips.

"This is yours?" I ask, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice.

"It is now; just upgraded after a good season, and you two are her first paying customers. Which reminds me..." Newt reaches back and pulls a bottle of champagne from the bag on the seat next to me. "I already named her, but I need one of you ladies to christen her, bad luck to do it myself."

"Oh Bella, you do it! I'll take a picture" My mother looks at me hopefully.

"Oh no, with my luck it would sink the second I hit it with the bottle. You do it Mom, you're the customer here, and I'm just along for the ride." I take her camera, "I'll capture the moment for both of you." my mother's face brightened at that idea.

As we walk up the dock I see the ship's name, _The Honey Badger_ written across the stern. "Why a Honey Badger?" I ask Newt.

"That's her name, a honey badger is small, but tough. It can take on bees, snakes, and even coyotes and will regularly beat 'em all." Newt explains. "It was my nickname when I was a kid, and I never really outgrew it." He taps the tattoo I noticed earlier, and I notice it is a small furry animal, presumably a honey badger. Beneath the tattoo are the words "_Honey badger don't care, Honey badger don't give a fuck_!"

"Charming…" I raised the camera, "Okay Mom, time to christen the ship. Newt, the captain should be in the picture too!"

"Okay, but you have to break it in one shot over the bow, that's up here," Newt leads my mother up the dock to the front of the ship, his hand resting lightly on the small of her back as he steers her towards her destination.

"I dub thee the Honey Badger, may you always find calm seas and bring your crew and passengers safely home." My mother breaks the champagne bottle against the bow, as I snap the picture. The moment, frozen in time, is one of the happiest I have ever seen my mother. It is as close to a perfect moment as one could be.

"That was great, are you sure you've never done this before?" Newt asks my mother as he leads her up a ramp he calls "the gangway".

"Never," answers my mother, blushing a little. "I'm glad you liked it."

"I'd like a copy of that picture, if I could get one" says Newt, as he goes about prepping the ship for launch. "I'll hang it on the bridge and always remember this fine ship's first customers."

"If you have a laptop, you can pull it right off the camera" I offer and Newt accepted, uploading the picture to his laptop on board, and even setting it as his desktop background. It is a great picture if I did say so myself.

"Ok ladies here we go, head up to the bow and admire the view, we'll be at our destination in no time." Newt blows the ships horn a few times, and we are underway.

We cruise for about half an hour, eventually coming to a stop at a calm patch of water in the middle of the ocean. Newt comes down from the bridge and announces, "We're here!" and drops anchor.

"How can you tell?" I ask, looking around for landmarks to give some indication where we were.

"I've been diving this site since I was a little kid." Newt starts pulling dive equipment out of a locker, when he stops and looks at me. "You sure you don't want to try it?"

"No I'm good, just here for the sun." I watch as he fits my mother with a wetsuit, fins and a mask. Then he gives her a dive belt, and teaches her how to use the breathing apparatus. I take a few more pictures, then Newt grabs a dive belt, some fins, a mask, as well as a couple of small canisters.

"Where's your tank?" I ask, and Newt smiles.

"I use these little guys," He taps the canisters. "Compressed air. It's not deep and I can hold my breath a long time. I can make four of these last me over half an hour.

I have to admit, I feel a little better with all the gear my mother has on. If Newt can survive with a mask and a couple of cans of air, then she will be just fine.

Newt jumps in the water and my mother sits on the dive rail like Newt showed her. "Have fun!" I say as she adjusts her mask one last time.

"Oh Bella, I wish you didn't let your fears always keep you from trying new things, you miss out on so much." My mother pops the breathing regulator into her mouth, takes a few experimental breaths, gives me a "thumbs-up" and rolls back into the water and disappears beneath the surface.

Those are the last words my mother ever said to me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own anything Twilight related  
**

******Thank-you to my lovely wife cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader pricana and my beta eternally edward's girl for all of their help and encouragement.****  
**

**Chapter 3**

**I will never forget the look on Newt's face when he surfaces and yells for me to help him.**

"**Bella, throw me a line, Renee's had an accident!" I move quickly and throw him a rope, figuring she had just cut herself or something, and he wanted to get her out of the water before sharks came. Nothing could have prepared me for what I would see next.**

**Newt hauls my mother onto the deck of the Honey Badger and pulls her mask off. Her eyes are half open, and water trickles from her mouth which hangs slack. Her skin is pale, and she looks nothing like the vibrant person who had embarked on her first diving adventure less than an hour ago. Newt begins doing CPR, and in between breaths he gives me instructions.**

"**Bella, look at me, have you ever driven a boat before?" I shake my head no. "How about a car?" Again no, I feel utterly helpless. Newt stops asking me questions to breathe into my mother's mouth again. "Do you know CPR?" I start to cry. "No, I don't know anything." I sob, "Please help her!"**

**Newt continues CPR for a few minutes, and I keep waiting for a moment like in the movies where she coughs up some water and is fine. That moment never comes.**

**Newt is getting desperate. "She's not responding! We need help; Bella do you know how to use the radio?" I jump up. I did know how to use one. I once rode with my mother in a tow truck, it was one of the many times her dilapidated old VW died on the side of the road. I was about seven, and the driver showed me the radio, and how to talk to the other drivers to keep me entertained while he hooked up our car. It was a long time ago, but I had to do something to help.**

"**It's on the bridge. Get the harbor patrol, tell them we have a diver emergency, and give them our position. Our exact coordinates are on the screen next to the wheel. Tell them we need an airlift fast, GO!" Newt goes back to working on my mother.**

**I run up the steps to the bridge and find the radio. I see a sign taped to the radio that says "Emergency – Channel 16", and I immediately spin the dial and pick up the transmitter.**

"**Hello, Hello! Is anyone there?" I say into the mic, not sure what proper radio protocol is, and not really caring. "I need help, diver emergency!"**

"**This is the St. Thomas Harbor Patrol. Please state the nature of your emergency, and report your position, over."**

"**My mother was diving and she's not breathing, Newt is doing CPR, but he says it isn't working, we need an airlift. We're at…" I look at the screen that mercifully gives me the information I need in big glowing numbers. I read off the numbers and then ask, "Is that right?"**

"**Were you diving the wreck out there?" The harbor patrol dispatch asks. "If so, then we know where you are, and we are on our way."**

"**Yes, yes, she was diving the wreck, the ship is the Honey Badger, please hurry!" I click off the mic and lean out the bridge door. "They're coming!" I yell to Newt, who is still huddled over my mother, trying to get her to breathe.**

"**Hello Honey Badger, come in, this is Harbor Patrol, inbound on your port side. Please prepare to be boarded by emergency paramedics." The radio squawks behind me. Gratefully, I grab the mic and acknowledge the transmission. I can hear the beating sound of the helicopter rotors, and got off the bridge just in time to see two men dropping from the helicopter into the water next to us.**

"**Bella, hang the ladder over the side so they can get on board." I turn and see Newt pointing to a small aluminum ladder leaning against the same locker that held the dive equipment he had pulled out for my mother to use. As I hang the ladder, I realize my mother had come back aboard without the tank she had been wearing. By the time I finished hanging the ladder over the side, the emergency crew is waiting. They are up and on the deck with amazing speed, and set to work with stark efficiency.**

**One of the men takes over for Newt. He places an oxygen mask over my mother's mouth and checks her for signs of life. The other one starts asking Newt questions, as he sits down on the deck and leans against the rail. **

_**Everything will be fine now, they will help her, they know what to do.**_

**They load my mother into a basket dropped from the helicopter, and hoist her up. Then the emergency crew inform Newt where they are taking her, and then they are gone too.**

**Newt runs up to the bridge, brings us into shore, loads me into his Jeep and drives us to the hospital. I think he tries to say some reassuring things to me, but I am in too much of a daze to listen, or care.**

**When we get to the hospital, I am asked a lot of questions. Does my mother have any allergies, is she on any medications, date of birth, medical insurance… my head is swimming. Newt is questioned by some police officers and is later allowed to leave. He asks me if I want him to stay, but I tell him to go ahead. He tells me he would be back to check on me, but I don't recall ever seeing him again.**

**While I am waiting in a private waiting area, a nurse approaches me with a cup of coffee in her hand. She hands it to me and asks if I am hungry. I shake my head no, but accept the coffee, gratefully gulping the warm liquid down.**

"**Honey, how old are you?" The woman asks, sitting down next to me and putting her hand on my shoulder.**

"**Seventeen," I answered. "Do you know what's going on with my mom, Renee Dwyer? She was in a diving accident and no one is telling me anything…" I can feel the tears coming again, I force them down. "Why aren't they telling me anything?"**

"**I'll go find your mother's doctor and see if he can give you an update. If he can't come out, I'll see what information I can get." The nurse stands to leave. "Is there someone you can call? Any family? You shouldn't be on your own dear."**

"**I…I don't really have anyone else." I say, I am a little embarrassed, but it's the truth.**

"**Well, you think about it honey, and use that phone on the desk if you think of anyone. If anyone gives you a hard time, you tell them to talk to Nurse Hopper. If they still bother you, ask their name and leave them to me." She gives my shoulder a comforting squeeze, then goes off down the hallway.**

**I sit back down and finish my coffee, and think about who I can call. Our family doctor? They probably already contacted him, based on my lack of knowledge of my mother's medical history. Neighbors? We were never really close with them; I wouldn't know how to even start that conversation. Amazingly, the only people that I can think of are Mr. Call and his son Embry. I had been right after him in roll-call at school since second grade after Leah Clearwater moved away. Mr. Call runs the pharmacy in town. He always says hello to me by name, and even came by to check up on Mom when she was down with the flu a few summers ago.**

"**Miss Dwyer?" The doctor's voice makes me jump and breaks my train of thought. I look up and see a middle aged man in hospital scrubs, holding a clipboard, looking over his glasses at me.**

"**Yes, that's me." I answer, surprised at how weary my own voice sounds.**

"**I'm Doctor Platt, I'm the attending physician for your mother." He glances down at the chart and then continues. "Renee Dwyer, can we speak? Is there anyone here with you?"**

"**No, it's just me." I wish people would stop asking me that. "How is my mother? Can I see her?" I stand up.**

"**Miss Dwyer, your mother was brought in via helicopter in a state of cardiac arrest after a reported diving accident. There was no information readily available regarding medical history, so we took all the life-saving measures at our disposal to revive your mother. I'm sorry to tell you that our efforts were unsuccessful, and we were unable to revive her. I'm very sorry for your loss." He pauses and looks up, waiting for me to say something. I just stand there, struck dumb by this man who had just completely shattered my whole world.**

"**But I called for help as fast as I could, I did everything Newt said…." I stammer out, hating how stupid I sounded, but hoping it would make some difference. Like Doctor Sensitivity here was going to look at his clipboard and say, "Oh yes Miss Dwyer, I see you radioed for help in the allotted time, lucky for you. We will upgrade your mother's status from dead to alive; thank you Miss Dwyer for pointing out our mistake."**

"**I really am very sorry Miss Dwyer," he said again. "I know this is a bad time, but I need you to sign some papers authorizing an autopsy. That way we can rule out anything but this being a tragic accident." He extends the clipboard, "Please sign here."**

"**I'm only seventeen, is that ok?" I glance at him.**

"**I have no other listed next of kin. I'm sure it will be fine." I notice he tries not to look at me directly in the eyes.**

**I sign my name at the bottom without reading it.**

"**Once again, I am very sorry for your loss." Dr. Platt takes the clipboard from me, and turns and walks away.**

**I fall back in my chair. So this is it, I am now alone. Time to toughen up Bella, the world is a rough place, no time for weaklings. **

**I feel a lump forming in my throat; I'll be strong tomorrow. Today I will cry.**

**Nurse Hopper later came by and gave me a box of tissues, and held me tight while I cried myself out. She insists that there has to be someone I can call. I tell her that I am all alone and she makes me think, surely there must be someone. I tell her about Mr. Call and she says I should call him. She also offers to get me a ride back to my hotel.**

**I dial information and have them connect me to the Call's home number. If the hospital wants to quibble over the one dollar connection charge they can bill me. Embry picks up on the second ring. He must have seen the caller ID because he sounds hesitant.**

"**Hello, Call residence, Embry speaking."**

"**Hi Embry, its Bella Dwyer, from school…" I hope he remembers me or this is going to be even more awkward.**

"**Bella? Hey! How are you doing? Is everything alright?" Embry's confusion is even more obvious now. At least he knows who I am, so I guess I hadn't overestimated our family connection.**

"**Is your Dad around?" I suddenly realize I don't even know his father's first name, I am pretty sure it wasn't "Mister".**

"**Oh sure, hang on." I hear him yell for his dad followed by some brief whispering. I hear my name mentioned, and "Virgin Islands", well this is about to be the least startling thing he is going to hear on this call.**

"**Hello?" Mr. Call's usually friendly voice was laden with the same confusion as Embry's.**

"**Mr. Call, its Bella Dwyer…" my voice quavers.**

"**Hello Bella, what can I do for you? Is everything alright?" God, I wish people would stop asking me that. Everything is not "alright" and it never will be again.**

"**I… I didn't know who else to call…" I start to cry and tell him everything; the dive, the accident, that mom was dead, and I was alone.**

"**You're not alone Bella." He assures me when I had finished and calmed down a little. He asks me a few questions about where I am staying and when my flight is due back. "You'll get through this Bella." He says before hanging up "Let's just get you home."**

**I want to believe him but I'm not so sure. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own anything Twilight related  
**

**********Thank-you to my lovely wife cutestkidsmom my pre-reader pricana and my beta eternally edward's girl for their help and encouragement.****  
**

**Chapter 4**

**I sit in the familiar surroundings of my living room, staring across at the funeral director. Mr. Call is here, and I'm answering questions about the final details before the funeral begins. I feel like this has already been decided, but here I am suffering through it anyway. Better this than being alone with my thoughts; there will be plenty of time for that later.**

"**Well, I think that is about it." The funeral director stands and turns to me. "One last thing, some people have sent flower arrangements, would you like them at the church, or would you like me to have them brought to your home?"**

"**The church." I say without hesitation. Why the hell would I want my home invaded with flowers to remind me of this? The director nods as if he understands my reasoning, and walks to the door. "My driver will be along to pick you up in about fifteen minutes." He says. "I will see you at the church."**

"**Do you want me to wait with you Bella?" Mr. Call asks. He has been wonderful; picking me up at the airport, dealing with transporting my mother's remains, handling the local police with their endless questions, sitting with me through meetings to discuss life insurance, making funeral arrangements … well, you get the idea. I can tell it is starting to take its toll on him. **

"**No, you go ahead, I'll see you there." He nods and heads to his car. His family will undoubtedly be right up front, waiting for me to sit with them. All I really want is to be alone, and I am. No matter what anyone says, I am utterly alone.**

**The sound of a car driving up alerts me that it's time to leave. I remember to grab my mother's keys and lock the front door; **_**another habit that I will have to get into**_**. The driver of the pristine Cadillac holds the passenger door for me while I settle in against the soft, fragrant leather. **

**He starts the car and brings me to the church. A lot of familiar faces are making their way up the steps; it seems the whole town is here. I slowly get out of the car and walk up the stones steps to the church. As I'm walking in, people stare and whisper amongst themselves. It makes me uncomfortable. Embry walks over and offers me his arm. "C'mon Bella, we have a seat for you up front." **_**Great… **_

**One thing I have always liked about this church is the fact that the pews are cushioned. Not like those hard wooden ones you usually see. There are a lot of flower arrangements in the front of the church, and the simple casket I selected is open. My mother lay peacefully inside; hands folded, and wearing the simple floral dress she wore so often****.**

**The pastor talks about life and death, sorrow and loss, and then some nonsense about being happy for my mom having gone to heaven. He then invites me up to say a few words. I have prepared something, but I'm not sure I will be able to get through it. I remember my graduation speech a few weeks earlier and how nervous I was, it seems so stupid now.**

"**Thank you everyone for coming." I begin slowly, "My mother loved this town, and she always said the people here were special." I want to tell them the little things about her that made me love her so much; shopping for treasures, vegetarian food, her laugh, and her hokey little phrases. I want them to understand, but those memories are mine, and I am selfishly guarding them.**

**As I speak, I scan the crowd of familiar faces to find one to focus on. I notice one face I don't recognize. He is tall, scruffy, and built like an action-movie star; totally the kind of guy my mother would have flirted with. I briefly think of Newt; I wonder if he has moved on, and if he is still giving tours on the Honey Badger. Something tells me he never got that picture framed to remind him of his first paying customers...**

**I finish by thanking the Call's for their kindness and generosity, and the pastor for his kind words. I say goodbye to my mother in front of an assembly of people that I have known my entire life, and yet I feel completely alone. **

**The service finishes un-eventfully, and people pay their respects. Almost everyone comes up to me to express their condolences, their words rehearsed, "If you need anything…" I want to yell at them, "I need my mother, and unless you can conjure her up you have nothing I need!" Instead. I just thank them and woodenly accepted their hugs and well wishes. They all feel badly for me, I know, but deep down I also know they are all grateful that it isn't them going through this.**

**Finally, I am alone. Everyone has gone; even the Call's have left after checking with me to see if I was okay. The pastor tells me "Take all the time you need Bella", and disappears to the back of the church. I go up to the casket and stare at my mother. She looks so peaceful; it's as if she is sleeping. I kiss her forehead gently, and tell her I love her. The tears fall freely, I am left in my grief. **

"**Miss Dwyer?" I turn and look behind me. There he is, Mr. Action-Hero, the man I noticed while delivering my mother's eulogy. Who is this guy? He has extended a silk handkerchief to me and that's when I notice how well dressed he is; too well dressed to be from around here. His suit probably cost the same as the car that brought me here.**

"**Yes, thank-you." I take the handkerchief and dab my eyes with it. Some of my makeup comes off on it, and I instantly feel bad for soiling such a nice thing. I hand it back with a mumbled apology.**

"**Keep it," the man said kindly. "I'm very sorry for your loss Miss Dwyer, I don't mean to intrude, but I need to talk to you briefly if I may."**

"**Oh, um sure." I feel weird having any sort of conversation in front of my mother's casket. "We can talk over there." I motion to the pew I had been sitting on moments earlier.**

"**Thank-you Miss Dwyer, after you," he motions with one large hand. We then walk over to the pew and sit down.**

"**Do I know you?" I ask. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember you. Did you know my mother?" This man is making me nervous. Who is he?**

"**No, we've never met. But to answer your question, yes, I did know your mother, quite some time ago." His eyes shift to the necklace my mother had purchased on our trip. I wore it as a reminder; I thought of burying her in it, but for some reason I can't part with it. "Where did you get that?" He asks abruptly. My hand darts instinctively to the necklace.**

"**It was the last thing my mother bought before she died." I replied coldly. "Listen, Mr. …"**

"**Garrett."**

"**Mr. Garrett, thank you for coming. I'm sure my mother would have appreciated an old friend coming by, but under the circumstances, I really don't want to take a trip down memory lane…" I hope this guy will take the hint and leave.**

"**I understand Miss Dwyer, and I don't mean to intrude, but I'm actually here as part of my job. I have something for you." He reaches inside his jacket and I have visions of him pulling out a huge pistol like in the action movies this guy reminds me of. Instead, he pulls out a small felt case about the size of my hand, and hands it to me.**

"**What is this?" I ask as I open it. It looks like a smartphone inside, and I'm puzzled. "A phone?" I ask, clearly confused.**

"**A PDA," he replies. "It is keyed specifically to your thumbprint. I have some instructions for you."**

"**Who are you?" I ask, a little more forcefully now. This guy is starting to piss me off.**

"**Garrett," he says again. "I work for your father."**

"**My father?" I almost laugh. "Sorry to inform you Mr. Garrett, but my father has been dead for over ten years. You may have trouble collecting your paycheck."**

"**Bella, please listen. Some of what you think you know isn't true. This device will explain it all. However there is a catch. If you press your thumb to it, it will tell you everything, but then, you will have to leave with me afterwards. If you choose not to press it, then you continue on here, and you will never see me again."**

"**Is this some kind of joke?" I scream at him. "What do you do? Go from funeral to funeral and play secret agent with people whose lives are in ruins?" Where is the pastor? I shove this monster backwards, "Get away from me! I'm not interested in whatever your game is!"**

**Garrett doesn't budge. He just sits there and lets me scream at him, shove him, and beat on his chest like he had done this a thousand times. ****I'm amazed at how well he is handling this, not many men would keep as cool as him with a seventeen year old going bat-shit insane on him.**

**But Garrett isn't most men.**

"**Forty-eight hours," he said. "If you don't key the device within forty-eight hours, it will brick itself and wipe the data. If that is what you want, don't open it. Just remember, if you key the device I'll know, and you will have to leave with me."**

"**What if I say no?" I ask, and Garrett gives me a faint smile.**

**"What if I'm not asking?" he replies. _I believe him._**

"**Once again Miss Dwyer, I am very sorry for your loss and anything I have done to cause you more pain. Please believe that is not my purpose here." Garrett turns and starts to walk down the aisle.**

"**Wait, hang on. If you work for my father, where has he been? How come he hasn't contacted us? Why didn't he come here himself?"**

"**If you have questions Miss Dwyer, your answers are right there." He nods at the box in my hand. "Just make sure you mean it; because once you open it, there is no going back." He turns and leaves.**

**Examining both the box and device inside, I'm careful not to touch the screen. I put it back in the box, and put the whole thing in my purse. I'll deal with this later. For now I just want to get home. One last time I glance at the casket before turning to leave. The burial is tomorrow, so I have the rest of the day to reason this out.**

**As I exit the church I realize there is no car waiting. "Perfect." I whisper to myself. **_**Forgotten about already.**_** I start walking and find I actually prefer it to the stuffy confines of the Cadillac that brought me here. The walk home will give me plenty of time to decide what I'm going to do about Garrett's cryptic device.**

**By the time I get home I am no closer to making a decision. The only thing that I am certain of is that I'm not touching it until after the burial. After that, I have nothing tying me here.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own anything Twilight related  
**

**********Thank-you to my lovely wife cutestkidsmom my pre-reader pricana and my beta eternally edward's girl for their help and encouragement.**  


**Chapter 5**

**I make it home and toss the box on the kitchen table. I really don't know what to think about Garrett and his story, but I know I'm not dealing with it today. I pour myself a glass of ice tea and sit down to think.**

**I have literally taken my first gulp of tea, when the doorbell rings. "Great, now what?" I growl, I am in no mood for company.**

**I open the door to a middle-aged woman in unattractive business attire. She has a satchel in one hand and a clipboard in the other. I really have started to dislike people with clipboards since the hospital in St. Thomas.**

"**Bella Dwyer?" she asks, reading from the clipboard, then looking up at me, as if she expects my name to be emblazoned on my forehead.**

"**Yes, can I help you?" I ask, the last thing I need after Garrett is another crazy person. Who is this one going to claim to be? An aunt? Cousin? The Tooth Fairy? God? Nothing will surprise me at this point.**

"**Beverly Shaw, Department of Children and Families. May I come in?" She doesn't wait for me to answer and walks through the front door.**

"**This isn't really a good time…" I begin, a little indignant. Who is this woman to barge in like this? I have just come back from my mother's funeral, I'm not even slightly interested in dealing with whatever nonsense this woman is bringing to my door.**

"**Oh, it never is dear. In my line of work you get used to hearing that. After all, we never show up if everything is fine now, do we?" I have to admit she has a point. "Miss Dwyer, it is the DCF's understanding that you recently lost your mother… My condolences, and you Miss Dwyer, are in fact a minor with no living relatives over the age of twenty-one?"**

"**Yes, that is correct. I have no relatives, at least I don't know of any." I quickly add, thinking of my conversation with Garrett earlier. "What is this about? I'm seventeen, I can look after myself."**

"**Miss Dwyer, there will be a hearing to determine your eligibility to act as your own guardian. Do you have legal counsel?" This woman is about as sympathetic as Bernie Madoff's auditor.**

"**What is going on here?" Mr. Call's voice comes from the front doorway.**

"**Oh, excuse me sir. Beverly Shaw, DCF, I was just…"**

"**Leaving," Mr. Call's voice has an edge to it that I have never heard before.**

"**Of course, I'll just leave this…" she places a sheet of paper on the table, next to the iced tea that I know I'm not going to get to enjoy. "The hearing will be next week, have your attorney present if you wish to argue to be permitted to act as your own guardian." Mr. Call's glare takes the rest of the fight out of her. "Good day Miss, Sir." She nods at Mr. Call, and shows herself out.**

"**Lousy timing," Mr. Call comments as the door closed. "You okay Bella? I saw the car and thought Mr. Jenks was here."**

"**Who?" **_**Fantastic, more company. I have never been so popular.**_

"**Your mother's attorney. He wants to go over her will with you. I figured I'd stop by for moral support. I can go, though…"**

"**No, please stay. I have no idea what I'm doing, and can use some advice from someone I trust." He smiles and sits down; I bring him an iced tea and pour myself another one when the doorbell rings again. I find myself thinking that the entire town has gotten together and had a meeting on how they're going to stop me from drinking iced tea today. I brought my glass with me to the door; they are going to have to work harder than that!**

"**Mr. Jenks? Please come in." I say as nicely as I can manage. He is a short man with a bald head and a weird "Abe Lincoln" beard.**

"**Miss Dwyer, please accept my condolences, I attended the funeral, but didn't want to disturb you…" This is exactly the kind of man my mother would have hired as her attorney.**

"**Thank you so much, please have a seat. I believe you know Mr. Call? He stopped by to help me. I don't have any experience with these matters…" I want to sound like I have a handle on things, but I have found when I do that, people tend to expect me to actually know things, and that never ends well.**

"**Of course, it's not a problem at all. There really are no issues, the will is pretty straight-forward. As the sole beneficiary of your mother's estate, everything transfers to you. Major assets include the house, car, bank account, and of course, this." He produces a key and hands it to me.**

"**What is this for?" I ask. It is a normal enough looking key with the number 1128 stamped on it.**

"**Safety deposit box," replied Mr. Jenks, reading from the papers he had in front of him. "It doesn't say what bank it is with though, I can make inquiries with the local branches to see if you mother had an account with any of them."**

"**Thank you, that would be helpful." He passes me some papers to sign and he leaves me copies. We talk about the house being covered, the life insurance, the funeral costs, and the good chunk of funds left over. He asks if I want the funds deposited directly into my mother's old account**_**; now my account.**_** I say that is fine. He advises me that the insurance and registration on the car is paid up to the end of the year, but I have to get things transferred into my name if I want to drive it; as I'm not listed as a driver on the insurance. **_**I don't even have a license. **_** I tell him I'd like to sell the car, and he volunteers to assist with the sale, after I find a buyer.**

**And that was it; Mr. Jenks rises to leave but notices the papers from the DCF woman lying on the table next to my growing pile of "stuff I'll deal with later".**

"**Excuse me, Miss Dwyer, but if you don't mind me asking, what is that?" He suddenly looks very angry.**

"**Oh, some woman from DCF came by; she said I needed to go to a hearing to become my own guardian or some such thing. I haven't looked at it really."**

"**I ran her off right before you got here, Jason." Mr. Call says. "The bitch invited herself right in and took advantage of the poor girl, right after her mother's…"**

"**I see… Bella, I want you to forget about this. I already spoke to this woman, and I thought we had reached an understanding; apparently not." Mr. Jenks gets a glint in his eye and smiles. "I can tie this up in legal red tape for years, well after you turn eighteen and it's no longer an issue. I'll take care of it." He takes the paper and places it in his briefcase. He then hands me a few of his cards. "If anyone else comes around, DCF or any of the other hundred agencies that love sticking their nose in where it isn't wanted, you tell them to talk to your attorney. If anyone else invites themselves in, you invite them right back out again." He smiles at me again, I really like this man.**

"**I will sir, umm how much is your fee for all this?" I don't want to insult the man, but it seems like a good question to ask.**

"**Don't worry about it young lady. Your mother was one of the good ones, and I can see you are too. There is something about self-serving, busy-bodies messing around with good a person that always pisses me off. If anything comes up I need to charge a fee for or need a retainer on, I'll let you know ahead of time. You'll never get a surprise bill from me." He pats my hand. "You try and forget about this now; you've had enough to deal with today."**

"**Thank you, Mr. Jenks, I was wondering … Did my mother ever talk about my father?" I figure if anyone knew about him, my mother's lawyer might, and after Garrett's appearance, it seems a good time as any to ask.**

"**Bella, I once told your mother that there are two people she should never have secrets from; her daughter, and her lawyer. When we made this will up and I asked about your other biological parent, strictly from a legal sense you understand," I nod. "She told me that he was not in your lives, and last she had heard was he was deceased. That was ten years ago, we never discussed it again."**

"**That's okay, that pretty much lines up with what little she told me about him." I shrug. "I just thought you might know something else."**

"**Come to think of it, there is one other thing. I offered to look into the matter to confirm if what your mother heard about his death was true, and she just laughed and said, "That man could leave you a trail that you would grow old and die trying to follow." I'm not sure what she meant by that, but I haven't really thought about it until now." Mr. Jenks looks at me expectantly, as if this innocuous bit of information would trigger an epiphany that would let me shed some light on this.**

"**Well, that's more than she ever told me." I walk the two men to the front door. "I just want to be informed in case any long lost relatives come crawling out of the woodwork." I am a bad liar, so I keep it light.**

"**Well, if they do you, let me look into them before you loan them any money." Mr. Jenks shakes my hand. "I really am very sorry for your loss, Bella, if you need anything or have any questions, please give me a call."**

"**I will Mr. Jenks, and thank you again. You too, Mr. Call; you and your family have been wonderful to me through this entire ordeal. I can never repay you…" I trail off.**

"**No repayment is necessary. You just try and get through one day at a time, and you know how to reach me for anything. Mr. Call then walked down the driveway with Mr. Jenks, they got in their respective cars and left. **

**Closing the door and sitting back down at the table, I spy the box Garrett had given me. Not today, I think, and go about fixing myself some dinner and another iced tea. After dinner, I read for a while but turn in early. The day has definitely taken its toll.**

**The next morning I try to develop a routine. I get up, shower, and eat. I get dressed for the burial ceremony. No one else is coming, except a very select few people. The Call's, Mr. Jenks, and myself are all that I really care to have around for this final farewell.**

**It was a nice day and only a short distance, so I walked to the cemetery. Fortunately, my mother had picked out her vault; she didn't like the idea of being buried, she once told me, and had paid for it ahead of time. Thankfully that meant I didn't have to worry about dealing with any of that part of the funeral arrangements.**

**It's a short ceremony; I see the funeral home has brought some of the floral arrangements from yesterday's funeral service. I even see a small one from Nurse Hopper. I smile at that, a complete stranger that helped me at one of the worst times in my life. I make a mental note to send her a thank you.**

**After I'm home and changed, "the box" catches my eye. So what if I activate it? If **_**he**_** comes by, I'll tell him to talk to my lawyer. The thought of Mr. Jenks going toe-to–toe with Garrett is not that reassuring though.**

**I open the box and carefully lift out the device inside. It looks like a regular smartphone, all touchscreen and nothing else. I press my finger on the screen and it lights up with blue, red and white lights. A familiar symbol that I was sure I have seen before, but can't quite place pans across the screen.**

"**Identifying… Please state your name." The device chirps in a very synthetic female voice. It reminds me of the generic voicemail voice you get when someone can't be bothered; or when one doesn't know how, to record a personal voicemail message.**

"**Bella Dwyer" I say, not sure if there is a mic I should be speaking into.**

"**Voice recognized… accessing message. Do you wish to play now?" The device seems eager to fulfill its only purpose.**

"**Yes" I say, oh why not? "In for a penny, in for a pound," my mother would have said.**

**The screen goes blank for a few seconds and I am afraid I've broken it when a man's face appears. I realize I still have my thumb on the screen and quickly move it so I can see who it is.**

**He is a middle aged man, maybe mid to late forties. Good looking, dark hair with a touch or two of grey in it. A thin mustache, perfectly trimmed on his upper lip, strong cheekbones, with a pointed cleft chin. The man could be a billionaire or a bum for all I know.**

"**Bella" he begins in a deep baritone "If you are hearing this then it is the happiest and saddest I will ever be. Happy because I will finally get to see you again, and sad because your life just got a whole lot more complicated. I know you will have a hard time believing this Bella, but I am your father, and I am very much alive." **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own anything Twilight related  
**

**********Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom my pre-reader Pricana and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**  


**Chapter 6**

"**I'm going to need you to trust me now Bella," the man on the screen continued. "Your life will change dramatically, but I can promise you that I will be there to help you whenever you need it. Garrett will bring you to me, please trust him, and he will keep you safe. I can't wait to see you, believe me when I tell you that even though you have not seen me, I have always been there for you, and your mother." The screen goes dark, I hear a little pop, and a wisp of smoke comes from the device. I sit down and try to assimilate what I just heard. Do I believe it? Is there some kind of angle here?**

**The doorbell rings, I jump and push my thoughts aside. I half expect Garrett to be standing there since he claimed he would know if I activated the device. I am surprised to see a uniformed police officer standing there instead.**

"**Bella Dwyer?" He asks. I am so sick of strangers on my doorstep asking me if I am Bella Dwyer.**

"**Yes… Can I help you officer?" I don't think I can handle any more bad news at this point, but at least whatever it is won't be ruining a good day.**

"**No ma'am, just stopping by to check up on you. May I come in?" He takes his hat off and walks through the front door without waiting for me to answer.**

"**I'm sorry? I don't understand…" I am pretty sure cops don't go door-to-door checking up on people. Maybe Mr. Jenks sent him by, I thought, but that doesn't ring true either. "If there is some kind of issue you can contact my lawyer…" I walk over to the table to retrieve one of Mr. Jenks' cards.**

"**Oh no ma'am, nothing like that. A Mrs. Shaw with DCF asked us to stop by on regular intervals until your hearing. I understand you lost your mother recently, I'm very sorry." He is a young man but seems very sure of his purpose here, so I relax a little. This is just another one of DCF's annoyances, I'll wait for him to leave and then call Mr. Jenks. He'll deal with it, I am sure of that.**

"**Oh yes, Mrs. Shaw. She was actually just here, and my attorney just left. I'm fine though, thank you for stopping by and checking on me." I walk toward the front door hoping he will follow.**

"**I lost my mother when I was about your age, it was tough." The cop rudely wanders into the kitchen and is looking around. "You have no other family?" He asks as he continues snooping.**

"**Actually, my lawyer is looking into that." I lie. I don't really feel like hearing about his family history or comparing grief notes.**

"**Oh, well I hope you find someone, nothing worse than being alone in this world." He moves closer to me. "It helps to have someone to share the pain with," he places his hand on my shoulder.**

**I hold my breath… Is he hitting on me? What the hell? I have to figure a way out of this situation fast. His hand moves from my shoulder to my arm, his fingertips brushing the side of my breast. Okay, that's enough…**

"**Bella, can you please fix me an iced tea while I show our friend out?" ****Garrett's voice is unmistakable. ****The young cop snatches his hand away from me as he turns towards the man neither of us knew was there.**

"**Certainly, Mr. Garrett, it was nice meeting you officer." I hide my own shock at Garrett's appearance as I walk past the officer to my refrigerator. I leave Garrett with him, while watching for what was going to happen next. I have no idea what it will entail, but something tells me I won't want to miss it. **

**Garrett picks a piece of lint off the lapel of his otherwise immaculate suit. "Officer, what is the worst kind of pain you have ever felt?" He asks in a pleasant conversational tone. "For instance," he continues, "have you ever, for example, broken a bone? Burned yourself badly? Needed stitches?" The officer shakes his head no while backing up towards the door. "Well, today is your lucky day then. You'll get to experience something new." He takes his jacket off, removes his cuff links, and rolls his sleeves up. I see a shoulder holster holding a very large pistol and a tattoo on his right forearm. It is the same symbol that was on the screen of the device he had given me before the man claiming to be my father started speaking. Again, I realize that I recognize this symbol from somewhere.**

"**Hey, now wait a minute." The cop stammered, backing towards the door. "I'm a cop…" he reaches for his holster.**

"**Great thing about cops…" Garrett seizes the man by his elbow before he can draw his own weapon. There is a sickening crunch and the man screams as his pistol falls to the floor. "They have a fantastic medical plan." He shoves the man into the door, and when he rebounds off of it Garrett has his pistol out and in the man's mouth. I gasp and he glances over at me. "Bella, I could really use that drink." He says calmly.**

"**Drink… right." I grab a glass, pour an iced tea for him, and bring it to the table. Garrett turns his attention back to the panicking man at the end of his pistol.**

"**Now, Officer… Fallon," Garrett reads his name tag. "Since you don't seem to have a lot to say right now, just listen very closely. Bella is under my protection, and she would like you to leave and not come back. Isn't that right, Bella?" He glances over his shoulder at me.**

"**Y-yes," I reply shakily, trying to sound brave, but failing miserably. Who is this guy?**

"**So, thank you for coming by, good luck with the whole "use my badge to get laid" shtick you have going, but if you come near her again I will see to it that you die by inches. When I am done the only friend you will have will be death, and you will be very happy to see him when he comes. Am I in any way at all unclear?" He removes the pistol from the officer's mouth and uses the man's police uniform tie to wipe the drool off the chrome barrel. He then puts it back in the shoulder holster it came from with lethal efficiency. "You may speak now." Garrett bends down and retrieves the officer's weapon.**

"**Crystal clear, I-I wasn't…" Garrett raises a finger.**

"**Don't insult me officer. It gets me angry. When I'm angry, people get hurt. As an officer of the law, you should be more interested in seeing to it no one gets hurt. Am I right?" He removes the bullets from the weapon and puts it back in Officer Fallon's holster. He places the bullets in the man's shirt pocket right beneath his name tag. "Don't load it until you leave," Garrett tells him. "You'll want to get that arm looked at." Garrett opens the door and escorts him out.**

**As Officer Fallon stumbles to his car and pulls away, I stare dumbstruck at this man who is calmly putting his cuff links and jacket back on.**

"**What the hell was that?" I finally burst out as Garrett sits down at the table and picks up the iced tea like nothing happened.**

"**What? That? He needed to be taught a lesson. That's kind of my thing." He drains the glass halfway. "This is really good, Bella," he smiles and looks like the polar opposite of the man I had seen moments earlier with a gun in a cop's mouth.**

"**He's a cop, what happens if he comes back with a bunch more cops? Are you going to threaten them all? What are you even doing here?" I am amazed at how calm this man is. It is infuriating.**

"**What's he going to do? Tell his cop buddies that an out of town guy roughed him up after he tried to grope the underage girl whose mother just died?" He takes another drink. "If he does that I have grossly underestimated the amount of stupidity he is capable of. Trust me, that will be the last we will see of him. As to what I'm doing here, you activated the device, so here I am." He rises, goes to the sink, rinses his glass out, dries it, and puts it back in the cupboard with the others.**

"**He can tell them anything, they will believe anything he says over whatever you say; especially with you carrying that around." I gesture to the pistol he has under his jacket. "Why do you even have that anyway?"**

"**What? Katrina?" **_**Of course his gun has a name.**_** "Your father gave me her years ago, I don't go anywhere without her." He smiles, "Besides, when teaching someone a lesson, visual aids help so much."**

**I sit down at the table. He is right of course, even if the cop is willing to go with his word against Garrett's, there is no way he would risk me telling my side of the story.**

"**So…" Garrett sits down across from me. "You activated the device; did it answer some of your questions?"**

"**You should know, you gave it to me." I answer back testily.**

"**Hey, I have no more idea what was on it then the mailman knows what's in the letters he delivers." Garrett answers back. "All I know is that since you activated it, you need to come with me."**

"**Where?" I ask quietly.**

"**To see your father, of course. Pack light, but take what you need. We won't be coming back here for a while, if ever." He looks around the room. "Leave a note for Mr. Call, but don't mention me or your father in it. I can write one if you don't want to." He continues looking around the room, what is he looking for?**

"**Don't you have a television?" he asks, as if reading my mind. "I want to check the scores before we leave, while you are packing."**

**I smile, "Of course, right over here." I point to the old TV set that has no screen. Nestled inside is what my mother had dubbed "Dave the Confused Christmas Cactus" in full bloom, blissfully unaware that Christmas is months away.**

"**How am I supposed to get the scores off this?" Garrett looks at me expectantly.**

"**Try threatening him, isn't that how you usually get your way?" I storm upstairs and slam my door. I know I have no choice but to do what he says, but I don't have to like it.**

**I grab a small suitcase and toss some clothes inside. I grab my travel bag of toiletries and a few personal items. My water-globe treasure is too big to bring, but I'm not going without something to remember my mother by.**

**I go into my mother's room. It is just as I left it, her suitcase from our trip on the bed. Everything else is just as she had left it. I see the necklace my mom had bought and I had worn on the day of the funeral; the one Garrett had noticed. Then it hits me suddenly. It is the same symbol that Garrett has tattooed on his arm, the same one from the device that relayed the message from the man claiming to be my father. I snatch it up off the dresser where I had put it, and slip it over my head. I tuck the pendant inside my shirt and leave the room, closing the door behind me. I hear voices downstairs, but I don't care. Garrett is down there and he will either deal with it or not.**

**I look around my own room one last time. I shut off all the lights and turn off my water globe. I grab the bag I had packed off my bed and carry it downstairs. Garrett has found the radio in the kitchen, and is listening to a sports commentator. Those were the voices I had heard, figures.**

"**I see Dave coughed up some information after all." I say sarcastically.**

"**Yeah, well, he didn't want to, but after I pulled a few flowers off, he gave up the radio pretty quickly." Garrett smiles at me. I refuse to smile back.**

"**I wrote a letter for you," Garrett motions to the table where a single piece of paper lay. "You can use it or write your own, but I'll have to read it." He looks uncomfortable. "Sorry," he adds.**

**I quickly scan what he has written, it is vague, non-committal, and better than anything I would have come up with. "It'll do." I say and drop my bag by the front door. "Anything else?" I turn and look at him, my anger very evident on my face.**

"**Yes, I need to check your purse, and you'll have to empty your pockets." Garrett looks apologetic again.**

"**Of course you do…" I toss my bag at him, he catches it and checks inside. I have nothing in my pockets except some change and my keys, which I put on the table. "If you try and frisk me you better keep that gun handy." I tell him, and I mean it.**

"**Not necessary." He removes a few items from my purse. "You won't need these, or these," he adds my ID, cash, cell phone, and nail clippers to the change and keys already on the table.**

"**Whatever," I say. "Are we done here?"**

"**Just about." He locks his gaze on mine. "I just want you to know, I am not doing anything here to be mean or heavy handed. To tell you the truth, we all would have been happier if you had never activated the device, but here we are. I am only trying to deliver you safely and securely to your father, and the reason for these precautions will become a lot clearer once we get there. Until then, you can either trust me and we can make an uncomfortable situation as pleasant as possible, or we can do it the hard way. I leave it up to you, but if you are going to practice the tough chick routine on someone, pick someone who hasn't stomped way scarier people then you into the dirt before breakfast." He smiles again, "We clear?"**

**He has a point. "Clear," I smile back, "can I ask you at least one question?**

"**Sure, I might even answer it."**

"**What kind of a name is Garrett?" I ask.**

**He laughed, "A first name."**

"**Do you have a last name?"**

"**Yes." He picks up the bag I had dropped by the door. "Ready?"**

**I sigh. "Ready." Even I'm not convinced by the conviction in my voice.**

**As I get into Garrett's silver town car I can hear the last words my mother ever said to me in my head. "Oh Bella, I wish you didn't let your fears always keep you from trying new things, you'll miss out on so much."**

**Somehow, I don't think this is what she had in mind.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own anything Twilight related  
**

**********Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom my pre-reader Pricana and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.****  
**

**Chapter 7**

**As we pull away from the only home I have ever known, Garrett looks back at me from the driver's seat. "Bella, it will help you to think of what you are gaining here instead of what you're losing."**

**"A psychopathic bodyguard? Great, just what I always wanted." If he is going to give me advice the whole way this is going to be a long trip.**

**"I was thinking more along the lines of your father." He replies amiably enough. "A few hours ago you thought you were alone in this world. Now you are on your way to meet family you never knew you had." He navigates the car through Forks one last time and hit Route 101 before speaking again. "I can talk and drive if you want to pass the time."**

**"What's the point?" I ask. "You don't tell me anything, so what do we possibly have to talk about?" Once again he was silent, this man is infuriating. No matter how nasty I am to him he doesn't react. I thought back to his interaction with Officer Fallon, maybe I shouldn't push my luck and be glad I'm not getting a reaction from him.**

**"I only don't tell you what I either can't tell you, or what I don't know. You have to understand Bella, a man with my background is used to performing tasks and seeing only my small piece of the big picture, and trusting others, like your father to make sure all those pieces fall into the right places." Garrett speaks matter-of-factly like he has explained this hundreds of times.**

**"What kind of background is that?" I ask. I figure I might as well try and find out whatever I can about him. You never know when information might come in handy. I try testing him, "If you don't mind, I'd prefer if you don't refer to that man as my father. He was never there for me or my mother. He's no more of a father to me then you are."**

**The words are hardly out of my mouth before I realize my mistake. Garrett slams on the brakes and hits the shoulder of the highway. He shuts off the engine, gets out of the car, and walks around the back to my door on the passenger side.**

**"Out!" He barks after opening the door in a gruff voice. I get out and try to look as defiant as possible, while facing down this man on the side of the road.**

**"I'm only going to say this once..." Garrett began in an eerily calm voice. "Your **_**father," **_**he emphasizes the word, "has done more for you than you will ever know. Without that man making the sacrifice of staying away from you and your mother; you would, in all likelihood, both be in that cemetery vault right now." He starts pacing back and forth in front of me as I stand staring at him speechless.**

**"I understand you have had a rough last couple of weeks," he continues a little louder now. "... and I am sympathetic, but here is the reality of your situation. Your mother is dead, and your father is the only family you have left. You will show him respect in my presence, or at least pretend to in a convincing enough manner that I believe it, or I swear by God and sonny Jesus I will…."**

**"You'll what? I cut him off. "Hit me? Shoot me? Guess what tough guy, I'm not impressed." Actually, I am terrified but have only one play here. "I might not know a lot about this new life, but I know this. You are **_**required**_** to bring me to… wherever we're going, unharmed. So you can take your threats and shove them because we both know you're bluffing." I manage to keep the shakiness out of my voice.**

**"Am I?" he steps towards me. "Are you sure about that?" Garrett stares directly into my eyes.**

**"Very sure." I meet his gaze unflinchingly; I was not going to lose this stare-down. "Stick to bullying cops..." I finished lamely "You'd make a lousy poker player."**

**Garrett hold my stare for a second longer and then cracks a smile and starts to chuckle. "You're alright kid." He laughs and wipes his eyes, breaking the stare-down and allowing me to turn away. We both got back in the car and he starts driving before he speaks again.**

**"Please do me a favor, don't disrespect your father around me. I meant what I said about the sacrifices he has made for you." I have a biting retort on my lips, but I hold it back and decide to change the subject.**

**"How did you meet him?" I ask, only half expecting an answer. He hasn't answered any questions I have asked up until now; this one is not likely to be the first.**

**Surprisingly, I don't get a cryptic response. "I used to be in the military, Special Forces..." he begins. "A while back, when Clinton was president, we were sent in with some marines during Operation Silverwake. Ever hear of it?" he asks.**

**"No, what was it?" I was barely in grade school when Clinton was president. I was more interested in princesses and ponies then military operations.**

**"Tirana, Albania. The marines were there to evacuate government employees from the country, after the region destabilized and everything started getting FUBAR."**

**"FUBAR?" I repeat, the word conjures images of military men in dark gear, operating far from home using acronyms that amount to nothing less than their own language.**

**"Yeah FUBAR, Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition," Garrett explained. "Anyways, we were there for a different reason. Seems our government had placed a civilian there. Tech ops guy, tasked with breaking codes, hacking enemy systems, and gathering intel. He was the reason we knew to get the marines to evac the government employees. They had been targeted by a rogue general, who was staging a coup, to be used as hostages to keep the US from interfering." Garrett checks the mirrors and changes lanes before continuing the story.**

**"Anyways, it was our job to grab the civilian tech ops guy, and get him out of country, since he was not **_**technically**_** supposed to be there in the first place. To complicate matters, it seems he purposefully had gotten himself caught by the rogue general's forces, to buy the government employees the time the marines needed to get them out. So we went in and liberated him, that man was your father. That was the first time I met him; held hostage, with a gun to his head, as me and my team went in and gave his captors each one in the head and two in the chest." Garrett has a faraway look like he is reliving the moment. I hope he is still watching the road.**

**"Long story short, we got him out, and our paths didn't cross again for many years. I had saved a lot of people from similar situations, and once they were delivered I forgot about them. When you do Black Ops, you tend to expect little to no recognition for what you do." I expect Garrett to sound bitter, but instead he seems to hold that fact up as a badge of honor.**

**"So, what happened when you crossed paths again?" I have never heard a first person account like this before, and find myself engrossed in his story.**

**"Oh, that? Cambodia, I was disrupting Asian drug operations in the Golden Triangle, and your father gave us a briefing. I recognized him immediately; he hadn't aged a bit. He recommended the team remove all personal identifiers, since we were dealing with some very bad men. We laughed him off, and one of my men, an italian guy named…. well, doesn't matter what his name was, said "If we shoot everyone, does that count as removing all personal identifiers?" We all laughed at that. We were Black Ops… elite, your father was a lab rat…" he trails off.**

**"What happened?" I ask quietly, sensing from his tone that this story didn't have a happy ending.**

**"We went in, and your father was right… he always was. We burned the place down and killed everybody. Mission success, all objectives met; or so we thought. Someone must have made us, because a short time later my wife and kids were targeted by Triad assassins. They botched the job and my family was okay, but the word was out, and their days were numbered. I was no longer anonymous. Of course, I was luckier than the members of my team. Their families weren't so lucky."**

**"What do you mean?" I ask. "Are they ok?"**

**"No. Dead, everyone, in the worst possible ways. They were sending a message, and my family was next. That's when your father contacted me. He never forgot how my team had saved him in Albania, and he wanted to help me. He said he could make them disappear, but there was a catch. I agreed to it before he even told me what it was, no price was too high to save my family." He pulls into an exit lane, and jumps on a connector to another interstate.**

**"What was the catch?" I ask, suspecting I already know the answer.**

**"Well my cover was blown, making a woman and two kids disappear is relatively simple, but a high profile Black Ops operative on every hit list from Cambodia to Compton is a little more difficult. So I had to leave and stay away. Sound familiar?"**

**"What do you mean?" I ask. "Is that why he left? To protect us?" I have a sinking feeling I have horribly misjudged the man claiming to be my father.**

**"You'll have to ask him; that is not my story to tell." Garrett's phone rings and he has a brief conversation that consists of long silences followed by an occasional "Yes" or "No" from Garrett.**

**"Can you at least tell me where we're going?" I ask once he had hung up the phone and resumed giving his full attention to driving.**

**"The border of NY and Connecticut… about three thousand miles," he replies.**

**"How long will that take?" I ask. Traveling across the country in the same car with this man? Whatever the answer, it is going to be too long.**

**"Forty-five hours," he responds. "If we don't stop."**

**"Don't you ever sleep?" I yawn; sleep sounds good right about now.**

**"Not while I'm on a mission," he replies in a tight voice.**

**"Is that what this is? A mission?" I yawn again, and try to calculate my odds of sleeping in the car.**

**"It's better that way." Garrett sounds like he doesn't want to talk anymore.**

**"Why is that?" I wonder if this change in his attitude is due to something I've said.**

**"Because I don't fail missions," he says matter-of-factly. "Go to sleep Bella, the trip will go faster. Don't worry, you're safe."**

**I believe him, and for the first time in many days, I sleep.**

**Three thousand miles, and two days later, we cross into New York State. We stop only to eat, get gas, and occasionally, just so I can stretch my legs and relieve myself. Garrett must have to, but I never see him use the men's room. He is always waiting for me when I come out, and I am never out of his sight at the rest stops.**

**We don't talk much after that first conversation. Occasionally he would comment on the weather, or point out a landmark in one of the various states we crossed to get to our destination. Any other time, I would have been interested; as this was only the second time I have been out of Washington. I remember how the first time I left went, and decide it would be better to stay silent.**

**By the time we made it to the Connecticut border, and then to a town called Ridgefield, I was anxious. I want to meet this man who claimed to be my father once and for all, and ask him the questions I have had the entire trip to think about. I was also anxious to get out of the car, shower, and get a fresh change of clothes. Cross-country road trips wreak havoc on personal hygiene.**

**We pull into a gated compound with a very luxurious house, and a few outbuildings. There was a lake, and what looked like a boathouse. I notice surveillance cameras everywhere, and a few guards that look more like Hollywood secret service agents. If they are trying to be discreet or invisible they are failing miserably.**

**Garrett pops the trunk and grabs the bags containing my few meager possessions I have been permitted to bring. "I've got these. I'll show you to your room, and you can change and get a shower if you want. We can't have you meeting your father smelling like you've been in a car for a day and a half." I smiled; sometimes Garrett has an uncanny knack of reading my mind.**

**The room he shows me is nothing short of decadent. It makes the suite in St. Thomas look like the back alley of a flophouse. Everything was top of the line, the bed was huge and looked very comfortable. The furniture is all hand carved and very expensive looking. The bathroom is marble with ornate fixtures. **_**A gilded cage…**_** I think to myself.**

**I use the shower and change into a new set of clothes. My bags have mysteriously appeared while I was showering, but I am hardly surprised. I find one surveillance camera in the mirror, and I rip it out and grind it beneath my heel. I figure there must be more, but it feels good to do it anyway.**

**I am examining the room further, when there is a knock at the floor-to- ceiling double oak doors that look more like they belong on a castle than a bedroom. It is Garrett, I am hardly surprised.**

**"All settled in?" he glances at the crushed camera I left on the carpet where I crushed it. He raises an eyebrow at me.**

**"Getting there, I don't suppose you're willing to tell me how many more of these I have to find before I can sleep without being completely creeped out." I pick it up off the floor and hand it to him. "I'm no tech guru, but I don't think it can be fixed."**

**"Yeah, I'm going to go with a negative on that one…" Garrett tosses it in the wastepaper bin next to the ornate desk. "Bella, the surveillance is only…"**

**"For your protection…. Yeah I get it. Don't you know any other tunes?" I have been nice for about as long as I'm going to. "Did you want something, or are you here to install more cameras?" I ask, trying to change the subject.**

**"I came to bring you to your father, if you are ready to see him." Garrett looks intently at me, and I feel a little self-conscious at how badly I have treated him over the last few days.**

**"I'm ready." I say, a little more forcefully than I intend. "Thank you Garrett… for everything, and I'm sorry I've been such a pain. This has been a very difficult time for me, I'm not used to all… this." I wave my hand around the room.**

**"Not a problem, I've dealt with worse." Garrett shrugs and smiles. He offers me his arm which I take as he escorts me to what he terms my father's "study". He knocks twice, opens the door, and ushers me in. My father's study is easily twice the size of my high-school's entire library. **_**Who is this guy?**_** I wondered, and where does he get the money to pay for all this?**

**Garrett pulls out a chair for me to sit and I settle into it. He places a pitcher of water and some glasses in front of me on the desk, and shows himself out. I sit there, wondering what I am supposed to do now, when I noticed a figure standing in the shadows.**

**"Hello?" I look at the shadow in the corner. "Are you going to just stand there all creepy and sinister, or can we talk?" The figure remains silent and doesn't move. "Fine, if you don't want to talk to me, you could have done that from where I was, and saved me the trip!" I stand up to leave, "I was really willing to give you a chance you know, but now you can forget it!"**

**"Bella? Who are you talking to?" A voice behind me has me nearly jump out of my skin. I turn and see the man from the recording standing behind me. Holding a box in his hands, he is less imposing than the silhouette I had just been yelling at.**

**"I was… I mean, I thought you were…" I look back in the corner and realize what I had been yelling at. A polished suit of armor, none the worse for wear after my verbal onslaught. "Nevermind," I mumbled feeling stupid, this is not going as I had planned.**

**"Please have a seat," he held the chair for me, and then sat across from me at the huge ornate desk. "This is for you." He slides the box across the polished wood to me. "I am so happy to see what a wonderful young woman you have grown up into. You look so much like your mother." He smiles a nervous smile and instantly I know he is telling the truth. This man is my father. I have seen that same nervous smile a hundred times in family pictures, and more recently in the mirror upstairs.**

**"Dad?" I say experimentally, the unfamiliar word rolling off my tongue. "I thought you were dead… they always told me you were… why didn't you…" I choke up and he comes around the desk. I stand up and he enfolds me in an embrace that I never thought I would experience.**

**I stand there and cry in my father's arms. It isn't until later that I realize he shed just as many tears as I did.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 8**

**"Okay Bella," my father said after we are both all cried out. "I'm guessing you have a lot of questions and I'll do my best to answer them. There are still some things I can't answer right away. I'll do my best, but you have to trust me just a bit longer okay?"**

**"Okay," I say weakly, my head is spinning. Here he is, ready to answer every question I have, and I can't even think. I have to focus, I can't miss this opportunity. "I guess the first question is the big one. Why did you leave me and Mom? If you had been there maybe she wouldn't have…" I trail off.**

**"Oh Bella, please believe me when I tell you that leaving you and your mother was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. I have done, and continue to do very important and secret work. Leaving you and your mother was the only way I could protect you from the people that want to get to me. When those people can't get to me, they get to those I love, I couldn't allow that." He seems genuine and looks at me with eyes that seem to beg me to believe him.**

**"So this work you do … is it illegal? Is that how you pay for all of this?" I gesture to the opulent room around me. "This is pretty extravagant, and sure can't be cheap. So what is it? Are you a spy or something?"**

**"Illegal? A spy?" He laughs. "No, nothing like that. It's … complicated, and the less you know the better. Let's just say that my technological abilities are very important to my employer, and I'm compensated accordingly." So much for answers, I think.**

**"And who is this employer? The government?" I press harder, hoping to get some kind of a straight answer.**

**"No, not really, I answer to a … higher authority." He sits down across from me and motions to the box on the desk. "You haven't opened your gift."**

**"Higher than the President? Who's that? God?" I laugh at my own lame joke. It catches in my throat as my father's head snaps up and he looks at me sharply. He then smiles wanly and leans back in his chair.**

**"Something like that. Really Bella, I can't tell you too much about it. It's kind of a "members only" type thing, do you understand?" He smiles again, but it is forced, I can tell.**

**"Well, if you can't answer my questions, at least I get a gift out of the deal." I pick up the box from the desk and untie the silk ribbon. I open it, and gasp immediately; **_**not again **_**I think. Inside is a pendant, it is the twin to the one my mother bought in St. Thomas except it has what looks like a diamond in the center instead of an emerald. It is the same pendant she wore right before she died, the same pendant I am wearing under my shirt right now.**

**"Bella, what's wrong?" My father stands up. "Don't you like it? I had it made especially for you."**

**"Why?" I whisper. "I don't want it, every time I see that damned symbol something goes badly. Mom died, Garrett stuck a gun in a cop's mouth, I had to leave my life behind … Nothing good will come of this; I have nothing left to lose."**

**"Wait, Garrett did what?" My father put his face near mine. "I'm sorry you had to see that Bella, I'll talk to Garrett, sometimes he gets a little intense. I trust him though, and you're going to find that trust is a commodity that you need to take advantage of when you find someone worthy of it." He smiles again, "Nothing bad is going to happen to you Bella. I promise." I want to believe him.**

**"I'm sorry." I pick up the box. "It's beautiful; it's just that I already have one." I pull the pendant from beneath my shirt and show it to him. "It was Moms; it's all I have left of her."**

**"I understand Bella, you keep it anyway. The diamond in it is real; I can have it set in something else if you decide to later." He seems a little disappointed that his gift is not received better. I am probably the only woman in the world who has received a diamond the size of a walnut, and can't find it in herself to scream with delight.  
**

**"Thank you," I mumble. "Well, at least I know I don't have to worry about paying for college." I look at the diamond again. "I'm guessing I could get about four doctorates out of this rock." I am joking of course, but his face goes solemn.**

**"I need to talk to you about that Bella, your college plans will have to change a little." He sounds uneasy, like he has to handle me with care or I will shatter into a million pieces.**

**"A little?" I echo.**

**"More like entirely," he answers.**

**"I have a scholarship, I've made arrangements." I guess I was wrong; I do have one more thing to lose.**

**"Yes I know; I've unmade them. You will have to go to school here, where I can keep you safe." His phone beeps and he glances at it.**

**"Unmade? UN-MADE!?" I explode. "Who exactly do you think you are? I think I have been very accommodating and understanding of you and your entire story here, but let's be honest with each other. You haven't really told me jack shit about what is going on here. Just to recap, let's go over this. My mother dies in the arms of a stranger, on a boat named after an oversized rodent with rage issues. My father, who I think is dead, decides that is the perfect time to cryptically tell me, he is alive and well and living across the country in a freaking mansion that makes Donald Trump look homeless. Oh, and then Sergeant Psychopath busts up a cop in my living room, effectively taking out a quarter of the town's police force. Then, after driving me across the country I get to the "Palace of a million questions," none of which get answered. Now you have decided it is the perfect time to let me know that I can't go and take advantage of the only thing I have accomplished in my time on this earth; namely a scholarship to Oxford freaking University. But no, now I get to find out those plans have been "Unmade"**… **Does that about sum it up? Does that sound insane to anyone else, or is it just me that is not reading from the complete idiot's book for dummies here?" I am out of breath by the time I finish ranting. I am a little surprised by my level of anger, I never thought myself capable of this before.**

**"Bella, please try to understand, I am not doing this to be cruel. It is necessary; you have to trust me on this. You cannot go to Oxford." He finishes firmly.**

**"I've had enough family reunion for one day." I stand to leave and realize I have no idea how to get back to my room. "I'd like to return to my room, if you miss me you can always watch me on the cameras you have in there." I shoot the last comment at him acidly.**

**"I'll have Garrett bring you." He presses a button on his desk. "Bella, I'm sorry, I really am."**

**"You know, for someone who places so much importance on trust, you sure don't know the first thing about earning it." I see that remark hits hard, so I continue on. "You want me to be safe, well part of that is trusting my instincts, and right now they are telling me to get the hell out of here, and go home." I look around as Garrett enters the room. "But I guess that's not an option is it … Dad?" I turn on my heel and walk out of the room, with Garrett bringing up the rear.**

**"This way." Garrett leads me up the stairs, back to the familiar doors to my room before he speaks again. "So … How'd it go?" He grins at me.**

**"Oh shut up smartass." I punch him in his arm and wince in pain "Oww … what are you made of … rocks?" I feel bad that I had called him Sergeant Psychopath. He'd actually been nicer to me than I deserve. Maybe I am being a spoiled brat, but I worked hard for that scholarship, and I'm not going to just stand here while it is taken away and pretend it's okay.**

**"Nah, you just hit like a girl." He chuckles. "Nice exit though, I don't think I have ever seen your dad at a loss for words quite like that before."**

**"I might have mentioned to him about the cop… Sorry if you get in trouble." I sit down on the bed and kick off my shoes.**

**"Me? Trouble?" He laughs a full deep laugh that time. "Once he hears what that cop was up to with you, the only trouble I'll be in will be for not breaking both his arms instead of just one." He checks the locks on the windows and does a quick survey of the room. "You need anything?"**

**"Got a ticket back to Washington on you?" I ask hopefully.**

**"Listen kid, if your Dad okays it, and that is what you really want, I'll drive you there myself." I can't help but like this man, I decide he will be the one I will trust, he'd earned that much.**

**"Promise?" I look him in the eye. Mom always said, **_**"You can tell someone is lying if they won't look you in the eye."**_

**"Promise." His gaze holds mine. I believe him.**

**"Okay, house rules." He changes the subject. "Rule number one, don't go anywhere without me. This room is your "Get away from Garrett place", but everywhere else, I'm your shadow. See this?" He points to a button on the wall. "This lets me know you need me, if you push this button and I'm not here in two minutes, do NOT open this door for anyone. Clear?" He is using his military voice and I am expected to be a good little soldier and follow orders.**

**"Crystal clear; what about my Dad? I can open it for him, can't I?"**

**"Your Dad shouldn't need to knock, in the event of an emergency, you issue a challenge, and your father or I will answer. You say "Oscar", if you don't hear "Sierra" on the other side, you don't open the door. This room can double as a panic room, the doors are reinforced and nothing short of an RPG will get through them. But don't worry it will never come to that." He grins again. "If you need anything to eat let me know now, and I'll have it sent up. Unless you'd like to eat in the dining room…" I make a face. "Didn't think so."**

**"I'm good; I think I'll get some sleep. I haven't slept in a bed in days, and I have a lot to think about." He walks out, and I close the door behind him. He quickly knocks again.**

**"Bella, I almost forgot…"**

**I opened the door. "What?" I ask and Garrett puts his index finger on my forehead.**

**"BANG, you're dead. Nice job kid, you broke rule number one, and now the maid has to spend the next three days getting your brains out of the carpet. Good job." He walks away. "Shut the door dead girl."**

**"Maybe I was planning on taking you out!" I yell after him, I close the door and flounce over to the bed.**

**I think about the day's events, and decide I will play it cool tomorrow. I will listen and learn all I can, and decide then what my next move will be. I sleep soundly in the luxurious bed, it isn't home, but it is still the nicest prison anyone has ever been in.**

**.  
**

**.  
**

**.  
**

**When I wake the next morning Garrett is waiting in the hallway. I make him use his stupid challenge phrase before I open the door. He asks me if I want breakfast.**

**"Downstairs? Will my father be there?" I ask.**

**"Nope, just us, he had some work to do this morning, he'll join us later." Garrett is dressed in the same style suit he was in yesterday.**

**"Don't you own anything else?" I ask him. "Or is this standard bodyguard attire?"**

**"Saves time picking out clothes," he replies. "Didn't Einstein wear the same thing all the time, to avoid having to waste brainpower on such a menial task?"**

**"Urban legend, Edison was actually closer to that, but he just hated buying clothes. He spent all his money on lab equipment and books. Once, he even went an entire winter without a coat." I stop when I see the look on his face. "And that kids, is today's useless fact." I finish lamely.**

**Garrett laughs, and we arrive at what he calls a "breakfast nook" that is larger than the dining room in my Washington home. On the table is a sumptuous breakfast. My stomach growls, and I dig in. Garrett has a cup of coffee and a bagel.**

**"So what are we doing today?" I ask between mouthfuls. "Origami booby traps? The five-finger punch of doom?" I have to admit, I love ribbing Garrett.**

**"Diplomacy 101," Garrett answers me with a shrewd look. "I figure since yesterday went so well…" He pauses to let the sarcasm sink in. "Maybe we'd try a different approach."**

**"What did you have in mind?" I finish my eggs and reach for a glass of orange juice.**

**"Well, here is the truth as I see it. You got a raw deal, you made a choice and now you aren't so thrilled with the consequences of that choice. Am I missing anything?" Garrett sips his coffee.**

**"Well I think it's a bit more complicated than that, but I think you hit the finer points." I respond testily.**

**"Yeah, well when you strip all the drama and other nonsense out of things, that is pretty much what we're left with, I don't do complicated. I'm a simple man, and I think I have a simple solution to your problem." He stands up and I follow him out of the room. We wander through the house and grounds as he talks.**

**"Your father and I talked last night, I think I'm the only one he really talks to these days, and he's decided to let you in on some things. I advised against it but what you said to him last night hit home, and he wants you to trust him. In turn, he's trusting you; and this is one of those all-time "Holy Shit" secrets that once you know about it, there's no going back. The implications are huge, but what you need to understand is that if you know about this, you become a part of it. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" He stops and scrutinizes me seriously.**

**"I think so, kind of like when I had to choose if I activated the message or not right?" I have no idea what he is talking about, but if it gets me answers I will play along.**

**"Kind of, but on a much bigger scale. You will become part of the organization, and all that membership entails. In some ways your life will no longer be your own, in others, you will have more freedom than any other person on the planet." He pauses. "I should let your father explain, but I wanted to give you a heads up in case you considered backing out now. It's not an easy life, and not one your father would have chosen for you. We can forget all about it, and keep things the way they are if you choose." He comes to a door and puts his hand on the handle. **

**"This is it kid, are you sure you want to go through with this?" I nod, he sighs and opens the door. "Okay kid, time to go down the rabbit hole…" I enter the room.**

**It is a smaller room than the others I have seen. It has a couple of chairs and an ornate chess board between them. My father stands next to one of the chairs.**

**"Bella come in, please sit down, we have a lot to talk about." He holds the chair while I sit and then takes the seat opposite mine. "Do you play?" he asks, motioning to the chessboard.**

**I had actually been a fairly high ranked player in my freshman year of high school. I haven't played in a while though, as I couldn't find any real competition in my small peer group. Even the teachers stopped playing against me when I beat them all with minimal effort.**

**"I play a little," I answer. That's when I notice the symbol carved on the center four squares of the board. The squares are different colors. Deep red, bone white, sky blue, and midnight black. The rest of the board is a grey marble and the figures are carved from jade and ivory in the likeness of the Spaniards versus the Aztecs. I recognize Cortés as the king, and the conquistadors as the pawns. The bishops are Spanish monks; the knights are horses, and the rooks, Spanish castle towers. I don't recognize the queen, but I guess she is Isabella, the queen of Spain during that time period.**

**The Aztecs that are on my side of the board have Aztec warriors as pawns, Aztec pyramids as rooks, the knights are fearsome jaguars, and the bishops are ornate looking medicine men. The king and queen are very elaborate, with feather headdresses and beaded clothing. This is one game that would re-write history, this time the Spaniards my father commands will not conquer the Aztecs as easily as history remembered.**

**"Ladies first," he says, waiting on my first move. I open with a pawn, probing my father's defenses and analyzing his response to my feigned attack.**

**"So about school …" I start as we take turns positioning our armies across the board.**

**"Yes, I guess we should discuss that further. I'm sorry about how I sprung that on you, I'm new to this, the same as you, and in hindsight I could have handled it better." He brings his rook out and I notice him glance toward my queens-side bishop betraying his intentions.**

**"I accept your apology, and that I need to give up Oxford. Where will I be going?" I bring the queens-side bishop out just enough to draw him in. I watch him try and pretend not to notice.**

**"Yale, there are some people I work with in the area, and all of their kids go there. You'll meet them later today, if you're up to it, then at least, you'll know some people there. Also, Garrett will be going with you." He takes the bait and captures my bishop. "Check."**

**"Yale is a good school. I guess that will be fine." I answer as I pluck his rook off the table by castling and place his queen in an inescapable trap. "Check," I say as his eyes dart around the board, looking for an escape route for Queen Isabella. "Sorry, I think Queen Isabella is about to go the way of Marie Antoinette."**

**"So it would seem." He moves his king out of check, and I take his queen with a pawn. "But that isn't Queen Isabella."**

**"Oh, who is it?" I watch as he tries to rebuild his defensive position by consolidating his pieces around his king. I have him on the ropes, and it is time to either end it or pick him apart slowly.**

**"Catalina Juárez Marcaida; Cortés' first wife." He boldly moves his last rook into my territory, in a vain attempt to mount an offensive. I don't take the bait for the obvious ploy.**

**"I didn't know he was married, what with all the pillaging, who has the time for a family?" I pick off another pawn and study the board.**

**"Actually, he married twice, but the first was his great love. She died in 1522, and he was devastated. Some say that was the reason for his second expedition to Cuba, to bury himself in his work so to speak." He moves his pieces in a neutral manner now, neither gaining nor losing ground. He is waiting for me to make a mistake.**

**I give him an opening, and his lips twitch as he tries to hide a smile … **_**C'mon in where it's safe and warm, **_**I think. This is turning into Custer's last stand and my natives are faring quite well. "Well now that school is settled, Garrett says you want to tell me some things."**

**"Yes well, that is if you want to hear them." He takes the bait and I slide my rook through the gap in his defenses. "Some of it may seem a little strange at first."**

**"Try me," I say, as I move the rest of my attackers into position. "With what I have already seen, I can't imagine anything else being weirder."**

**"Oh, I think you'll change your mind on that." He moves again. "First, I want to let you know that I have kept a watchful eye on you and your mother all these years. I helped out where I could, and made sure you had enough to live comfortably. Your mother's incomes, the pendant in the shop, the first class tickets, even the mistake with the hotel where you got suites instead of rooms. All of it was done by me."**

**"I kind of already figured that part out." I say, nonplussed at this great revelation. "If this is the big secret, then I hate to tell you that I'm a little disappointed." I move my queen into position; two more moves, maybe three, and he is mine.**

**"Oh no, that was just something I wanted to get out there. The big secret is yet to come. It is in regards to my employer. You wanted to know everything? Well, I am going to tell you. The problem is, once you know, you are essentially tapped for membership. Are you sure you want this?" He retreats again, he had to see the inevitable loss of his king coming. I'm not even trying to hide my strategy anymore.**

**"I do, what other choice have I got?" I drive him further into the corner; his last hope of breaking out had disappeared two turns ago.**

**"Very well. You need to understand something first. Governments are a facade, everything in the world is run by a single organization. Wars, economies, alliances, and trade are all controlled by this organization, and has been for years. I work for them using my technological skills to maintain and drive their interests all over the world." He moves again, running out of room to maneuver as I close in.**

**"I think I've heard this story before." I pick off his last pawn "You're talking about the Illuminati or the Mason's, right?"**

**My father chuckles. "No, those were cover stories, misinformation fed to people who discovered part or all of our secrets in order to discredit them as wacko's or conspiracy theorists." He moves again. "Our group is known as The Gentlemen."**

**"Dad?" I move my knight into position.**

**"Yes Bella?" He looks at me expectantly.**

**"Checkmate."**

****AN**  
**

**I am up for fic of the week on the lemonade stand, please go and vote for me and also cast a vote for my wife's fic Salacious (cutestkidsmom).  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter 9**

**My father tips over his king and looks me in the eye. "Do you want to know about this, or continue to embarrass me at chess?"**

**I motion to him as I start to put the pieces back on the board where we found them. "No, by all means continue, you were saying?"**

**"The Gentlemen have been around since the founding of this country. Forget what you have heard about the various secret societies that control everything. They don't exist, if they did, we would have wiped them out long ago." My father stands and starts to pace as he speaks.**

**"So what exactly do they do?" I ask as I finish putting the pieces back on the board.**

**"Everything. They place politicians, manipulate laws, establish economic policy, declare wars, even place the top CEO's in major corporations around the world." My father's voice is getting louder as he gestures wildly.**

**"And how exactly do they pull that off" I ask only half-believing what I am hearing. "Money?"**

**"Oh no, our currency is a much more intangible, but valuable commodity."**

**"And what's that?" I ask, my interest now piqued.**

**"Secrets."**

**"Secrets?" I repeat.**

**"Yes Bella, secrets. Oh, you can buy cooperation, loyalty, freedom, even control, but if you really want to completely own someone, know their secrets. I'm talking about the deep, dark ones that no one wants out in the open. Find out the secrets that they will do anything to protect and keep hidden. That's true power." My father stops pacing as he explains this to me.**

**"And how do you find this stuff out?" I ask starting to believe the story as it unfolds.**

**"Over the years we used a variety of tools; traditional espionage, seduction, theft. As technology became more prevalent, our methods changed. Most of it is done through cyber-warfare now. That is why my branch holds the most sway currently." He pours himself a drink and sits down.**

**"Your branch? How does that work?" He really was serious; I can tell how uncomfortable he is telling me this. Like he is breaking a rule that he knows the penalty for breaking is not very pleasant.**

**"Well, our branches are coded like a regular workforce. We have the Blue Collars; they are the footsoldiers, thieves, and do the all-around dirty work. Trucker's Union strike, they instigate it. Need a strike broken up, they do it. Car bombing, steal some documents, burn a building down, you get the idea." He drinks from his glass, the ice clinks in it as he sets it back on the desk.**

**"So they are like a bunch of thugs?" I am confused, up until now he has been describing an organization I would have expected a lot more finesse from.**

**"On the surface, you have to understand. While they are capable of very precise strikes on targets, sometimes the best way for us to remain anonymous is to make things appear like an everyday random crime or accident. What gets more attention, a crackhead burning down a building, or an unsanctioned controlled demolition with military grade explosives? They do what the situation calls for." He pours another drink and loosens his tie.**

**"And your branch?" I have a feeling I know the answer, but I am taken completely in by the story he is telling me.**

**He takes another long swallow from his glass. "White Collars; internet spying, hacking, economic warfare and surveillance. We pull in roughly seventy percent of the secrets The Gentlemen now hold. We are the largest, and some say the most powerful branch of the group." He pauses for a moment, "And I am the leader of the White Collars."**

**"So what does that mean?" I feel dumb asking all these questions but we have long since strayed from the realm of common knowledge.**

**"Basically, that I run the most powerful branch of the most powerful organization on the planet." He says it so nonchalantly I have trouble processing that one.**

**"So you know the President of the United States?" I am trying to put this in perspective, but I don't think I'm doing a very good job.**

**"No, but he can't, and does not make any decisions without my knowledge."**

**"How do you mean?" I ask.**

**"Bella, look at it this way, by the time the President has to make a decision, his choices have been pretty much boiled down to two or three options. Why would I bother trying to influence the choice at that point? It is much easier, and allows me to maintain the organizations anonymity, if I influence which choices get presented. By the time the choices are presented it doesn't really matter what the choice is, he has no options in front of him that are not approved for use by my staff."**

**"So, he's just a puppet? Sounds shady to me, what if he tries to do something that isn't approved." I regret the question the second I ask it.**

**"Well, then we persuade him that isn't a wise course of action."**

**"And if that doesn't work?"**

**"We remove him from office." He looks at me meaningfully, I have a sick feeling I know what that means. "But that is a last resort, and does not happen very often. Not in this country anyways... the Middle-East, well they don't cooperate quite as much." He looks away, "Are you sure you want to hear more?"**

**"In for a penny, in for a pound," I answer quietly.**

**"What else do you want to know?" My father sounds tired.**

**"Are there any other branches of The Gentlemen?"**

**"Yes, the Red Collars," he replies wearily.**

**"And what do they do?"**

**"They are primarily female, and they retrieve information and secrets through seduction, as well as perform blackmail missions by luring individuals into compromising positions." He pours another drink, this is not easy for him, I can tell.**

**"Okay, I think I understand." I'd heard enough, this is really messed up and my father is a major part of it.**

**"Oh there's more, part of our bylaws instruct that I bring you to the Board of Directors, now that you know of the organization. You will be subjected to a background check and interviewed by various members; they will determine if you can be trusted with our secrets."**

**"And if I can't?" He is being awfully cavalier about this whole thing.**

**"I wouldn't worry about that Bella, you are my daughter, and it is more of a formality really. You are hardly the first child of a member to be brought in for membership."**

**"So when do we do this?" I relax a little, if he is as powerful as he was leading me to believe, I have nothing to worry about.**

**"I will need a few days to gather the Board together and explain the situation. The Board will want to confer before meeting you. Once you are summoned we will go to The Compound; it's about an hour away, just over the border to New York. We will be there for a few days, and you will likely meet some of the other member's children. They are an… interesting bunch, but they are all about your age, so I'm sure you'll get along just fine."**

**There is a knock at the door and Garrett comes in, "I'm sorry to interrupt; V.O.G demands an update on the…" he glances over at me "island situation."**

**"That's okay, I'll just leave you to your work. I have a lot to think about anyway." I stand up and head for the door. Garrett is by my side by the time I reach it.**

**"Did you forget something Bella? I'm your shadow remember?" Garrett opens the door. "After you."**

**"Don't you have work to do with my father?" I want to be alone with my thoughts and don't feel like dealing with Garrett right now.**

**"Nope, I just deliver the message." Garrett glances at me. "You tired of me already?"**

**"No, it's not that, I just have a lot to think about is all." I think it's slightly crazy that I am so concerned with the feelings of a guy I have seen snap a man's arm like a pretzel.**

**"Well, I'll be invisible then, just don't leave the house without expecting to see me." Garrett starts to leave but I realize just then, I don't mind having him around.**

**"Wait, you don't have to go." He stops and turns around to look at me. **

**"What do you do to pass the time here?"**

**"Oh you know, the usual… sniper training, clean my guns, practice assassination techniques…" He cracks a grin. "Want to learn how to make a man spasm in pain so hard he breaks his own back?"**

**I can tell he isn't serious. "Are you kidding? I learned that when I was twelve. Seriously Garrett, what is there to do around here?"**

**"You really want to know what I do in my off-hours?" Garrett looks around like he has a secret."**

**"Sure, you're my shadow after all… If you can't beat 'em."**

**"That's the spirit! Follow me!" Garrett leads me down the hall into a room I haven't been in before.**

**It is a large room with a plush couch and chair. It also has one of the largest televisions I have ever seen… anywhere. "Wow, I didn't know you had a man-cave!" I tease him.**

**"This is the best training room in the entire house." Garrett sits down and picks up the remote and turns the TV on. "In this room you will learn things that can save your life." He is deadpan in his expression, I play along.**

**I sit down in the chair. "Okay, so what am I going to learn?"**

**He tosses me a video game controller. "How to drive at 240 mph, evade cops, hot-wire cars, pick locks… everything you need to become a respectable menace to society."**

**"Okay, but I've never played one of these before." The controller feels unfamiliar as I try to figure out what each of the buttons do. Garrett picks up a second controller and joins the game. We play well into the night; car chases, shootouts, and running from digital police cars. By the time I go to bed I can barely keep my eyes open.**

**The next couple of days were more of the same; I fill my days by hanging out with Garrett and playing his favorite video games. My father is not around during the day; but we start an evening ritual where we play chess every night. He hasn't beaten me yet, but he is getting better. I'm not sure if he is just upping his game, or if he is simply learning by playing against me. He always seems quite proud every time I beat him which makes me wonder.**

**"I heard from the Board today." My father tells me as he retreats to defend his rook in jeopardy.**

**"Oh? What's the news?" I aggressively pursue, too late I notice my mistake and lose a bishop.**

**"They want us to come out to the Compound tomorrow," my father replies calmly as he studies the board for his next move.**

**"Any last minute details I need to know?" I am in trouble but he has left me a way out, and I cautiously move to escape.**

**"Just this…" He moves his queen. "Checkmate in four moves." He grins at me.**

**I study the board in disbelief. Through a clever series of moves he had distracted me into ignoring his subtle setup. He had baited me into running from his feigned gambit and falling right into the trap. "Nicely done!" I say with a rueful grin.**

**"Get some sleep kid, we leave in the morning, and don't worry, everything will be fine. I promise." My father stands up and kisses me on the forehead. It is strange that I had only met him a few days ago, but we had fallen into the father-daughter dynamic, like we had been a normal family forever.**

**The next day Garrett drives us to a sprawling compound in South Salem, New York. It is a small town that has an obvious "members-only" vibe. You must have money to live here, and even more money to be considered influential. I get the impression that The Compound's large gothic style stone buildings housed more than my cursory inspection revealed. What I do see is surveillance and a great deal of armament on the staff, even the so-called "gardener" is packing a shoulder and ankle holster. If they are trying to be inconspicuous they are failing, spectacularly.**

**We are shown inside, my father striding in confidently, and everyone scrambles to open doors for him, or get out of his way as the situation calls for it. **

**"Charles! I'm so glad to see you!" A woman, in a pristine Italian business suit is coming down the ornate carved staircase. Her shoes make no noise on the plush carpet as she crosses the room and presents him with a data pad. My father gallantly kisses her hand as he accepts the datapad.**

**"Emily, always a pleasure, it really has been too long." My father glances over the datapad and frowns. "This is not what we talked about."**

**"Circumstances have changed somewhat. The Board met earlier and modified a few… details of your arrangement. God knows that I don't care how this goes down. Some of the others however, wanted to make sure everything was done... by the book." She glances over at me and I would have felt very exposed under her gaze had my father and Garrett not been there.**

**"I don't know how it is you can say The Board met when I wasn't present." ****My father hands the pad back. "It makes little difference though; the outcome will be the same."**

**"I agree; these things are just a formality really. It's just that the circumstances are so unique. And don't take offence; the others thought that you being present would present a... conflict of interest." She glances at me again. "Charles, we're being rude. Aren't you going to introduce us?"**

**"Yes of course." My father turns to me. "Bella, may I present Ms. Young. She is in charge of the day-to-day operations here at The Compound." She steps forward and takes my hand.**

**"Bella, it is so nice to meet you. I was so sorry to hear about your mother. Everyone here is very anxious to meet you; but first we have some things to iron out with your father. Silly details... you understand don't you? Of course you do." She smiles the phoniest smile I have ever seen.**

**"Nice to meet you, um… yeah, sure; you guys do what you need to do." I think I must sound foolish but I don't know what else to say. Garrett appears beside me, and I feel a little better.**

**"Thank-you Bella, you're very kind." Another smile, she looks at Garrett, and her phony smile instantly changes. It is harder now, more strained.**

**"Mr. Garrett, it is so nice to see you again as well. Would you be so kind as to show Bella to the billiard room? The others have already arrived, and would love to meet her I'm sure."**

**Garrett did not return her smile and remained deadpan. I get the sense there is a story there, but now is not the time or the place. He glances at my father, when he receives a nod from him that is when he replies. **

**"Happy to… Bella if you'll follow me?"**

**As we walk away I whisper to him "What's the story there? You didn't point a gun at her or anything did you?" I ask jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.**

**"Not recently." Garrett growls under his breath, the look on his face lets me know to leave that particular subject alone.**

**He brings me to a set of doors and we stop. Garrett turns and speaks to me like a favorite uncle dispensing advice. "Ok Bella, here's the deal; in this room you will meet some of the other children of various members of The Gentlemen. Try and remember, as loyal as you are to your father, so are they loyal to their parents. Anything you say could be used to hurt him, or you. Reveal nothing important, and never forget the type of people you are dealing with." He examines me with a critical eye. "Ready?"**

**"Of course." I don't consider this to be quite the challenge he is describing, but I consider his words, and they sound like good advice to me. "Are you coming in?" I ask.**

**"I'll be right outside; you call if you need me." He puts his hand on the doorknob. "You'll be fine Bella." He opens the door and I enter the room.**

**The first thing that I notice is the size of the room. Easily the size of a gymnasium, it is covered in wall to wall carpeting, and has intricately carved floor to ceiling bookshelves that are completely stocked. A large television occupies one wall with a couch and two chairs in front of it, while a sitting area for reading is off to another side. I make note of a small computer panel on one wall, and the chess set in the sitting area that is similar to the one I had been playing against my father on, the night before.**

**Three young men and one young woman are in the room. The female is taller than I, with short black hair. She is sitting in a chair reading a book from one of the many shelves. Two of the males are playing a game on one of the two large billiard tables that occupy the center of the room. The one is laughing and speaking with a very Russian accent, as the other lines up a shot. Both are tall and muscular; the Russian has sandy brown hair, and the other has long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail that reaches the middle of his back.**

**The last one looks like the youngest of the group; he is sitting on the sofa tinkering with something I can't identify. He has blond, curly hair and black horn rimmed glasses. He is the only one who doesn't look up when I enter. I hear the door click closed behind me and take a deep breath.**

**"Hi." I start in lamely. **_**Nice opening stupid**_** I think.**

**"Pay up Demetri!" the female reading the book says to the Russian "I told you she would be a girl."**

**"_Chyort voz'mi!_ Your mother probably told you!" The Russian digs in his pocket and slaps a twenty-dollar bill on the table.**

**"I don't need any inside information to win a battle of wits with you, Dim-Wit!" The female pockets the money and turns to me. "Welcome to the asylum."**

**"Thanks!" I reply. "Are the inmates running it, or am I being committed?"**

**"**_**Ona smeshno**_**! I like her already, even if she did cost me money!" The Russian laughs.**

**"Speak English, you're being rude! He said you're funny" the woman smiled, "I'm Alice Young." She holds out her hand.**

**"Bella Dwyer. Pleased to meet you" I shake her hand and think **_**Young, the woman I met earlier must have been her mother**_**.**

**"Demetri Denali," the Russian comes over and joins us. "And that **_**mudak **_**over there is Jake." He nods at his long-haired opponent. I notice Demetri is missing the tip of his left little finger, just above the last knuckle.**

**"Jacob Black, but Jake works fine." He smiles at me. "You said your last name was Dwyer?" He looks at Alice questioningly.**

**"Yes Dwyer." I remember what Garrett said and don't volunteer any more than that. I am curious to see how much the Young girl actually knows.**

**"Fair enough," says Jake, going back to the game. "Ben! Are you going to introduce yourself, or are you going to make Bella have to try and hold a conversation with Dim-Wit?"**

**"Of course," the young man on the other side of the room put down whatever he is working on and walks over. "I'm Ben Cheney, resident mad scientist." He smiles shyly.**

**"Nice to meet you Ben, and all of you" I glance around the room. "So this is the nicest kid's table I've ever been stuck at."**

**"Come in please, and make yourself comfortable." Alice shoos the others away and I walk over to the couch where Ben has been tinkering. I see on the coffee table a variety of tools and electronics. They all crowd around sitting in the various chairs looking at me expectantly.**

**"Why are you all staring at me?" I ask suddenly.**

**"You have to tell us the story," Ben replies.**

**"What story?" I ask, confused? **_**What did they know?**_

**"How you found out about The Gentlemen," says Jake**

**"Oh that… I didn't, he told me." I feel uncomfortable.**

**"Really?" they all said together. I instantly regretted that statement.**

**"Yeah, no big deal; how did you all find out?" I quickly tried to change the subject.**

**"Well Demetri found out when he witnessed an assassination attempt. Jake actually followed his father to The Compound one day; Ben went even further and hacked his father's computer. Me? I'm just a notorious snoop." Alice grins.**

**"Wow, compared to that, my story is kind of boring." I'm glad they have moved on from that line of questioning.**

**"Not at all. Personally, I'm delighted to have you here. It will be nice to have another woman around; these boys can be so mundane…" Alice is extending an olive branch in friendship and I am not going to slap it away.**

**"Of course, we girls have to stick together." I smile; no harm in taking an ally when I find one.**

**"So which of your parents is in the organization?" Jake asks. "I don't know the name Dwyer, and I thought I knew all the members."**

**"Oh that, Dwyer is…was my mother's name. My father is Charles Swan." I toss the last comment like a shot in the dark and hit four bulls-eyes from the look on their faces.**

**"Your dad is the CIO?" Ben breathes. "My dad works for your dad."**

**"Does he?" I want to appear oblivious**

**"C'mon you did know?" Demetri is incredulous. **

**"I only found out a few days ago… give me some time to get ahead of the curve." I am not happy about having to share that little detail.**

**"Yes, come on guys. Cut her a break. I say Bella is one of us, what do you think?" Alice is making a habit of coming to my rescue.**

**"Sure, why not?" Jake is non-committal, but I'll take it.**

**"**_**Da tochno**_**!" Demetri yells enthusiastically.**

**"I think that's a yes?" I venture. He nods and laughs.**

**"I'm fine with it," Ben says quietly, but his next words make me nervous.**

**"What do you think Edward will think of her?"**

***AN*  
**

**I am up for fic of the week on the lemonade stand and would appreciate any votes my readers could give me. At time of posting this chapter I am in 5th place... also my wife is up too (Salacious by cutestkidsmom) so please vote for her as well.  
**

**You can vote at w_w_w . tehlemonadestand . net (remove spaces)  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter Ten**

"Who is Edward?" I ask, watching them all look uneasily at each other. I start to look around as though I may have conjured this Edward from the depths of hell simply by invoking his name.

Ben scurries back to his gadgets on the table and immerses himself within his tinkering. Demetri goes back to racking up the billiard balls and Alice, to her book. Only Jake stays where he is, eying me critically as though trying to decide if what he is about to say will shatter me into a million pieces.

"Well, if you believe what he'd tell you, he is what you would call a BFD. Personally I think coasting on who your parents are is pathetic, but it seems to work for him." Jake's words flow freely, but the look on his face belied the casual manner in which he was speaking.

"BFD? What's that?" I expect it is a covert ops term that will let me know a little more about this mysterious person they were talking about.

Alice slams her book down on the table. "It means Big Fucking Deal, and don't let Jake fool you Bella, he wouldn't dare talk like that if Edward were actually here. Wait until we all start school, Jake will have his head so far up Edward's ass I'd actually be embarrassed for him; that is, if he had any dignity to start with."

My head is spinning with questions. "Wait a minute, school? We all are going to be in school together?"

Alice chuckles. "Looks like we're going to have to educate you Bella. Lesson one, if you want to know anything, don't wait for someone to tell you, find out on your own. Lesson number two, never let on that you didn't already know something, even if you are hearing it for the first time." She smiles, and I feel like they are taking pity on me; like I am the naïve little sister they all have to shepherd around and make sure that I don't wander into traffic.

"Got it, thanks for the tip, I guess I just got a later start to all this and will have to catch up." I turn to Jake. "What do you mean by Edward '_Coasting on who his parents are'_, who are his parents? I mean, we all have a parent in the organization right?" I study their faces for a reaction.

Alice speaks up first. "You are absolutely right Bella; we all have _**a**_ parent in the organization. The main difference between us and Edward is that he has _**both**_ parents in the organization. His mother is _"head red" _and his father is high up in command for the whites." She pauses, "I guess you could call him your father's number two guy."

"Big deal ... what does our parent's position in the organization have to do with us?" I feel like I am about to get a schooling in social peer-bonding hierarchy structures from Alice when Ben surprises me by speaking up.

"Absolutely nothing, Edward just is … well Edward. You'll understand when you meet him. Who his parents are just makes his personality that much worse since he views it as a form of validation." He blinks at me as if expecting me to immediately dismiss his point of view, shrugs when no rebuke comes, and goes back to tinkering."

"_Yebatʹ eto derʹmo,_" Demetri exclaims, while breaking up the freshly-racked billiard balls.

"English Demetri," Bella doesn't understand Russian, though in this case I think she can count herself lucky … Honestly, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Alice picks up her book and flounces back into the chair.

"Edward, he is a … what is word?" Demetri looks up as though the word he is searching for might be written on the ornately carved ceiling tiles.

"Douchebag?" Jake, having joined him at the table, deftly banks a ball into the side pocket.

"Jake, stop egging him on!" Alice sighs, and looks up from her book. "You will meet him soon enough Bella, and you can decide for yourself."

There is a knock at the door and Garrett pokes his head in. "Bella, are you ready to meet the Board?"

"Garrett! What's up man?" Jake walks towards the door. "C'mon in and lose some money to us at pool!"

"Not today, I've traded up in the '_entertain my employers spawn' _gig." Garrett winks at me. "I guess you will have to find someone else to dazzle with your mediocre grasp of the fine art of hitting a ball with a stick."

"I'm meeting the Board already?" I am shocked. "I literally just got here." I notice he has not acknowledged Alice nor has she looked up from her book since he entered.

"It seems they can't wait to meet you. I guess they must have heard how being in my presence for a short period of time has made you such a charming person." God, Garrett is adorable and infuriating at the same time.

"Ok funny guy, let's go. I appreciate the pretense of me having a choice in all this…" I turn back to my peers before I reach the door. "It was nice meeting you all, hopefully I'll be back, unless they drop me in the shark tank or whatever they have up there." I laugh at my own joke… no one else does.

"You'll be fine Bella, see you later." Ben smiles reassuringly and waves before he turns back to his gizmos.

As I leave the room I feel strangely reassured about their aloofness toward my meeting the board. If anything bad is going to happen, I'm sure there would have been some indication from at least one of them.

As Garrett and I walk down the hall, I press him for information, "So what's the story with you and the Youngs?" It is a shot in the dark, but it pays off.  
"I don't know what you mean." Garrett might be an effective bodyguard, but he is a lousy liar.

"Wow, they are right, I want to play against you and win money too! I think I'll stick to Texas hold'em with you though. With that poker face I'll be a millionaire in no time." I would have thought that ribbing Garrett would be getting old by now, but nope, it's still fun.

"There is nothing between me and the Young family Bella; just drop it." Garrett tries his trademark quiet deadly voice on me but I know I am safe.

"Okay, I guess I just imagined the tension between you two. C'mon Garrett, what's the story there?" I press him further.

Garrett stops and turns to me locking his gaze on mine. "Listen Bella, I get that you are new to all this and you are kind of like a blind person in a minefield, but I'm going to give you a nickels-worth of free advice. Leave this one alone!"

I hold his gaze. "You expect me to trust you; and you make fun of me for not knowing anything, yet all I'm surrounded by are people who won't tell me anything." I turn away, "I might not know much about your secret world here, but you people don't know shit about how to treat each other, or me."

We walk the rest of the way in silence, up to the carved mahogany staircase. I remember it being the first thing I saw when I walked in. Strangely, Ms. Young is in exactly the same place as when I left her and my father. She looks up from her tablet and smiles that annoying fake smile I am getting used to seeing around here.

"Ms. Dwyer, such a pleasure to see you again so soon. May I call you Bella?" I nod yes. "The others are so anxious to meet you; they have asked me to escort you to the boardroom. Will you please come with me?" Her smile stiffens and her eyes narrow slightly as she finally acknowledges Garrett. "I can take her from here Mr. Garrett," she says tersely.

Garrett smiles at her just as fake and phony as she had and calmly replies, "Ms. Young, if you think for one second I would release my employer's daughter into your care then it is entirely possible that brain damage runs in your family. You might want to take some preventative measures to ensure you don't end up like some other Youngs I have known." That shot hits home, all pretenses gone. Ms. Young's eyes blaze.

"I'm sure you would be absolutely heartbroken if that were to happen." She snarls at Garrett, who hold her gaze seemingly unphased. "Or maybe you helped some of my family discover this brain damage."

"Emily, we've done this dance too many times, and quite frankly I'm tired of it. If you have an issue with how it was handled, take it up with God, I'm just the messenger." Garrett offers me his arm and we continue past her, forcing her to rush to keep up.

"Oh yeah … I'm imagining things." I squeeze Garrett's arm in support as we walk up the stairs to the Board room.

The Board room is on the top floor and has a pair of ornate doors with the all too familiar symbol of The Gentlemen carved in the center. Each section is gilded in the white, red, and blue of the factions of The Gentlemen. I notice that where each section overlaps is accented in black. _Dead zones where the factions meet, how appropriate_. The door is flanked by two men in black suits with black shirts and ties, each wearing dark glasses that remind me of secret servicemen. They block our way as we approach.

"We've been summoned," Garrett says simply. The men do not move as Ms. Young walks past them and stands by the door.

"No Sir! She's been summoned, you know the rules," says one of the guards.

"Yes, I know the rules … I helped write some of them!" Garrett replies in his even deadly tone.

"I can't allow you to pass sir." The guard sounds unsure.

"What makes you think I was waiting for your permission?" Garrett growls, I put a hand on his chest.

"Garrett relax, is my father in there?" Garrett glances at me and nods. "And Garrett can wait out here, correct?" I look at the guard and he nods as well. "Then it's simple, Garrett you have seen me to the door, my father will watch out for me inside, and you can escort me when I leave. Everyone happy?" the two men continue eyeballing each other but I take their silence as an acquiescence to my proposal.

"You should thank her…" I hear Garrett say as I walk through the doors to the Boardroom. "She just saved your life." I remember when he said that to the cop in my kitchen. I believe it just as completely now as I did back then.

Ms. Young escorts me through the antechamber to the actual Boardroom. It holds a long table with the organizations symbol carved in the center. Around the table are four people and an empty chair which Emily Young takes. As I stand in front of the group, I recognize my father and another man who had to be Ben's father (the resemblance is uncanny). Another man in a blue suit, who reminds me of Jake, (his father maybe?) plays with a pen and looks disinterested with the whole matter at hand.

The last person is a woman; her beauty is striking as is her outfit. She is dressed in a long silky red dress with a plunging neckline showing an ample bosom and a generous amount of cleavage. Nestled in that cleavage is the same pendant I now wear on a chain, with a red stone instead of the green one I have. Her hair is as fiery red as the dress, which has a long slit up the side that goes far beyond what I would consider the limits of decency. She is wearing black thigh high stockings, and the height of the slit allowed me to see the garters holding them in place. _Red Collar _I think immediately. Her shoes complete the ensemble blood red with gold caps on the heels.

"Bella Dwyer," the woman in the red dress addresses me. "Welcome, I am Esme Cullen, I believe you know Emily Young, and your father requires no introduction I am sure. The two other gentlemen here are Norman Cheney and Billy Black. Our master at arms was called away and cannot attend, but he has instructed us to allow this group to rule in these proceedings." She smiles at me and I have the distinct feeling that this is how a mouse feels when confronted by a hungry cat.

"Pleased to meet you all," I say trying to sound brave and sure of myself.

Ms. Cullen continues, "As I'm sure you are aware, this organization is one of the utmost secrecy; and although you meet the requirements for membership, the circumstances of your arrival here, have made it necessary for us to meet you before you are admitted. Have you anything to say on your own behalf before we vote on the matter?"

"Um, no I guess not." What do they think that I am going to give a speech?

"Very well, since this is a vote for membership, training and placement, I remind all members that the vote must be unanimous for Ms. Dwyer to be admitted. Shall we vote? All in favor for Ms. Dwyer to be admitted to the Gentlemen, trained and placed within one of its factions, answerable only to God?"

"Aye," my father immediately says

"Aye," Ben's father echoes him.

"Aye," Mr. Black says and goes back to playing with his pen

"Aye," says Esme and all eyes go to Ms. Young.

She looks at my father "Are you willing to take responsibility for her? We don't know anything about her."

"She is my daughter, and that is enough," My father says evenly.

Ms. Young sighs. "I hope we don't regret this … Very well Aye!"

"The Aye's have it, congratulations Ms. Dwyer. Welcome to the Gentlemen! You will receive your training schedule within the next few days, and I am sure that Mr. Garrett or your father can answer any questions you have. Of course, the rest of us are available to answer any questions as well." Esme flashes her perfect smile again.

"Wait a minute, train me?" I am confused, "What exactly does that mean?"

Ms. Young speaks up. "Each member of the organization is required to be placed in one of the three branches. To determine where you are best suited to be placed, you will go through a series of training sessions to identify your aptitudes, and we will then decide where you will do the most good to the collective group."

"I can't just pick a group to work with?" I am even more confused, I assumed that I would be working for my father, the thought of being in a different branch had never occurred to me.

Ms. Young smiles (I really dislike this woman), "No Bella, though it normally works out that children share the same aptitudes as their parents and therefore end up in the same branch, it does not always work out that way." She glances meaningfully at Esme.

"Very well, though I guess I should warn you I'm not really good at much, I mean I always did well in school but that's about it…" I remember what Garrett told me about volunteering information and clamp my mouth shut.

Mr. Black speaks up for the first time since voting, "Don't worry too much about it kid," he begins in a thick Bronx accent. "If they can find a place for my kid, I'm certain we can find a place for you, forget about it." The last words remind me of a cheesy gangster movie as they come out "Fahgettaboutit".

"You will receive your training schedule soon, in the meantime, please enjoy yourself within the compound. Get to know the others as you will all be attending school together in the fall. They will help you get acclimated." Ms. Young stands up. "Thank you for coming Bella, now if you will excuse us we have other business to attend to."

"Of course, thank you." I glance at my father and he nods and smiles at me. I show myself out.

"How did it go?" Garrett, ever-faithful, is waiting for me outside the antechamber. I am relieved to see both guards still standing, though one of them looks a little shaken up.

"About as expected." I lie, nothing about this place is meeting any kind of expectations … it is one shock after another, but I am learning that keeping my surprise to myself while in this place, is probably the best idea.

Garrett brings me back to the room with the others and drops me off with a quick squeeze of my arm to let me know he is there if I need anything. I walk back in and see the group pretty much how I had left them. They all look up as I enter.

"Well that was quick; and I see you survived the shark tank," Jake quips and goes back to the pool table where he is playing against Demetri.

"So what happened Bella?" Alice asks anxiously, her book forgotten on the table.

I shrug, not wanting to reveal too much. "I don't imagine it was much different than when you guys went through it…" I remember the Board had said that my case was special, so I drop that comment as a test to see exactly how special my circumstances are. I am uncomfortable being so deceiving to my potential new friends, but I have already been warned by Garrett, and since I had decided to trust him I need to trust his advice too.

"I've never been called before the Board," Jake proclaims readily, "and I'm pretty sure no one else here has either." He looks at Ben who shakes his head, and Demetri who does as well. He doesn't look at Alice; I wonder what that is about.

"It probably just has to do with the fact that I was introduced to this later in life." I shrug it off like nothing, not wanting to make a big deal about it. I'm hoping my explanation will distract them from looking at the implications of me being called before the Board.

"There is one person who has been called before the Board that I know of," Alice says quietly from the corner.

"Really?" Ben comes around the table interested to hear more. "Who was it?"

I half-expect her to say that it was her, but her next statement chills me to the bone.

"Esme and Carlisle Cullen's son." She looks at me when I don't make the connection. "Edward…"

****AN****

**Thank you all for your votes and helping my wife cutestkidsmom's Fic "Salacious" with first place as well as helping me place a respectable fourth.**

**Also please check out my Beta's fic "Love Through Another's Eyes" and cutestkidsmom's other fic in progress "Because of a Boy."**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related, William Shakespeare was a guy who wrote a lot of cool stuff I don't own either but like to reference occasionally.  
**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**Chapter 11**

**I hang out with the "Band of Buggers" (as Jake called us as a play on the St. Crispian's day speech from Shakespeare's Henry V), all day and well into the night. I have a nice conversation with Ben about the pros and cons of robots as servants in society; I play pool with Demetri and darts with Jake. It isn't until later in the evening that Alice and I connect but, when we do, I know we are going to be good friends. I only feel bad that I have to keep so much from her as I can't afford to trust anyone until I have a better lay of the land. My days of being at a disadvantage with this group are done.**

**"You are something special Bella, they see it and will try to use it. Never let your guard down or they will swallow you whole." I shiver at Rosie's words but I nod and thank her for her advice.**

**When I wake up the next morning there is a datapad by the door that had obviously been slid underneath while I was sleeping. I pick it up and see the tri-ring symbol of The Gentlemen on the screen. I place my hand on the screen it and the device blinks to life.**

**_Access Granted…. Bella Dwyer… Welcome, please review your training itinerary._**

**A schedule flashes across the screen and a map from my room to the training area. I'm not scheduled to begin for another hour so I quickly get dressed and go downstairs to get something to eat. Garrett joins me as I leave my room and asks about who my first session is with.**

**"A Mr. … Denali, Demetri's father?" I ask Garrett as I study the map. I suspect Garrett already knows my schedule better than I do . It is just further evidence of the level of deception in this place.**

**"Eleazar? He's a smart guy, best gunsmith you'll ever find… He'll show you how to handle weapons and CQC… He's a great teacher Bella…" Garrett seems to be trying to put my mind at ease.**

**"CQC?" I hate asking, but these acronyms are driving me nuts.**

**"Close Quarters Combat." He steers me down the hall. "Sorry, I forget you don't know this stuff…" Garrett looks sheepish.**

**"Why didn't you just say fighting?" I consult the map and see we have reached my destination. "Are you coming in? Going to drop me off at school Uncle… Garrett, what the hell is your first name anyway? Are you ever going to tell me?"**

**"Sure…" Garrett opens the door and lets me walk through before closing it without following. I hear his words before it clicks shut. "When you can out-shoot me." He chuckles.**

**The room has dark tile with a smell I can't quite place, but reminds me of charcoal barbecues and campfires in the summer, but with a metallic undertone. A man in blue coveralls is hunched over a workbench working on something I can't identify.**

**"Hello?" I begin, unsure of what I am doing here. "I'm Bella Dwyer. I'm supposed to meet a Mr. Denali for training."**

**_"Podozhdite minute!" _****The man stares down a hollow cylinder about the length of my hand. ****_"Sovershenstvo!"_**** He tosses the piece of metal down on the workbench and stands up, addressing me in a thick Russian accent.**

**"Ms. Dwyer, welcome! I am Eleazar Denali, I make weapon, I use weapon and I teach others to be weapon." He smiles broadly and walks over to where I am standing. "Tell Eleazar, have you ever used a weapon before?"**

**"Me? Oh no never…" I trail off as he shakes his head.**

**"Never? Is nonsense, come with Eleazar." He leads me to a table with assorted random objects on it. He hits a button on the wall and a very realistic dummy drops from the ceiling. "Find weapon Ms. Dwyer." He gestures toward the table.**

**I scan the objects on the table; a bottle, a champagne glass, a metal coffee cup, a woman's high heel shoe, a credit card, and a pencil are among the items there. I pick up the bottle figuring I can bash someone in the head with it. "This?" I ask tentatively.**

**"Are you asking? Enemy will not ask!" he motions to the dummy. "Go ahead. Kill him."**

**I approach the dummy and swing the bottle at its head. It is a thick champagne bottle so it doesn't break but I do get a satisfying ****_crack_**** sound when it connects with my simulate foe's skull. Eleazar mockingly applauds.**

**_"Pozdravlyayu!"_**** He chuckles, "You have given him headache. Eleazar said to kill him."**

**"Hey I am new to this! It would help if you give me an actual weapon!" I look at him with exasperation.**

**"What you are saying? Eleazar can kill with anything on table." Eleazar takes the wine bottle from my hand and puts it back on the table. "Watch closely! Weapon not here…" he motions to the table. "Weapon is here..." he points to his head, "and here!" points to his hand. "Without mind or will, objects cannot kill."**

**He picks up the champagne bottle and breaks it on the edge of the table, stabs the sharp end into the dummy's leg, twisting it once and shredding the legs connection to the rest of the training apparatus. He then grabs the champagne glass and snaps it in two and drives the stem into the side of its neck. The pencil is next, being jammed into the eye until it comes out the back of the skull. The coffee cup is smashed violently into the sternum, and the woman's shoe is embedded heel first into the spine. He steps back to admire his handy-work.**

**"What about that?" I point to the credit card that lays untouched on the table.**

**"Step back please." Eleazar picks up the card and approaches the trauma-ridden dummy from behind. In one fluid motion he wraps his arm around the mock-victim's head so his palm is on its face. He then places the edge of the credit card against the point where the nose and lip meet; then, using only his strength rips upward and proceeds to peel the face of the dummy off. He tosses it at my feet. "Not for amateur." He wipes the phony blood on his coveralls.**

**"What in the actual fuck is wrong with you?" I exclaim looking at the face on the floor sitting in a puddle of fake gore.**

**"Be weapon! No more will I teach you today! Tomorrow you kill something for Eleazar." He goes back to his workbench and sits down. I had been dismissed.**

**As I exit the room I see Garrett standing there looking at his watch. "Seven minutes and forty-seven seconds. Eleazar must like you." He flashes his infuriating grin.**

**"Well, once he saw I was already a master assassin he realized it was pointless to try and teach me anything." I walk past him to the stairs. I want to get to my room and forget this day ever happened.**

**"You didn't kill the dummy did you?" Garrett says, falling into step behind me.**

**"Of course not! What did he ever do to me? What would I tell his little crash-test dummy children?" I need a cup of coffee.**

**"Well, you can bet he's telling all his mannequin friends right now how much of a wuss you are." Garrett is enjoying this a little too much.**

**"Not likely. He's blind in one eye, paralyzed, missing a leg, has heavy neck and chest trauma, and oh yes, Eleazar ripped his face off as a nice little ****_"So you thought things couldn't get worse._****" finisher; nice guy by the way…" Yep definitely need a coffee, maybe something for the headache I have brewing.**

**"Eleazar is great. C'mon I'll buy you a cup of coffee." Garrett offers me his arm. I take it and he leads me to the kitchen. "What do you have this afternoon?"**

**"Like you don't know? I'm in the gadget factory with Dr. Cullen, whatever that means." I feel so out of place here. I'm sure I'm not living up to expectation; coming from a world where learning always came easy to me, it is difficult to adjust.**

**"You'll probably see Ben there; he practically lives in that lab." Garrett pours me a cup of coffee and tosses me a bottle of painkillers. "Heads up! Take these for your headache." I miss the bottle and have to chase it across the floor. "You really aren't that coordinated at all are you?" He smirks.**

**"Well we can't all be the scourge of the Forks police dept." I pop a couple pills and wash them down with my coffee.**

**When I arrive for my afternoon session in the gadget factory, I see Ben is set up on a workbench and tinkering happily away on some sort of mechanical gadget. He doesn't even notice that I'm there.**

**"Bella Dwyer? I'm Dr. Cullen, please come in and have a seat over here." The unremarkable man in a lab coat points to a workbench that he has set up for me, and I take a seat. There is a variety of tools as well as mechanical and electrical gizmos on it. I have no clue what to do with any of the objects in front of me. I look up questioningly at Dr. Cullen.**

**"Bella, this is the lab where we develop solutions to problems; for instance, this…" He picks up a device from the table behind him. "This device allows an individual to eavesdrop on a conversation by interpreting the vibrations of the glass in the window. Now this..." He motions to a pane of seemingly normal glass, "is special glass that runs a small amount of vibration over its surface, completely defeating this first device."**

**"So, what is it you want me to do?" I ask hesitantly, ****_I don't know anything about how to do any of this, and they expect me to just invent something?_**

**"Identify a problem, and then develop a solution using the components at hand. I'll be around, and Ben can assist you as well if you have any questions." He walks away and leaves me sitting at my station, no closer to having an idea of what to do than when I walked in.**

**I get up and walk over to Ben's work area. "Hi Ben, what are you working on?" I figure some light conversation with Ben might help get some of my own ideas going.**

**"This?" Ben holds up the device he is working on. "This is a solution to the age old problem…" He does his best Dirty Harry impression "Did he fire all six bullets… or did he only fire five?" He holds it out for me to inspect. I take it from him and turn it over in my hand. It is a small metal cube with a digital LED readout on it. "It tells you how many rounds are left in the weapon based on the weight of the clip," Ben explains. "It isn't ready yet but when it is, I'll be able to program different types of ammo, clip sizes, and even compensate for a round being chambered. Cool huh?" He looks up at me for my opinion and holds his hand out for the device.**

**"Yeah, cool…" I hand the device back to Ben and go back to my station. ****_Find a problem and develop a solution_****, I am no inventor, but I had to try. I think hard and come up with a problem to solve: how to tell if there are any false walls in a room. I got the idea from the compound building; there were hidden entrances in the walls in almost every room. I guess they thought these passages were cleverly disguised, but I could always spot them.**

**I decide on a sonar-type device, and with Ben's help manage to put a device together that sends out an inaudible ping which is echoed back and interpreted by a small screen that maps out the environment based on the feedback from the ping. (As Ben explains it)**

**"Ready for the best part of inventing?" Ben asks as I place the device in the center of the room and key it to send out a ping in ten seconds. We step back to watch it do its thing.**

**"Will it work?" I ask Ben while we wait.**

**"Who knows? The theory is sound, we might need to tweak it a…"**

**There is a loud high pitched screech from the device and all the glass in the lab within fifty feet of the device shatters instantly, including the new "vibration glass" Dr. Cullen had shown me earlier. There is a pop and an acrid smell of burning electronics, then the device falls silent.**

**Dr. Cullen comes running over. "What happened?" he asks, out of breath as he surveys the damage.**

**"We were testing Bella's device…" Ben begins lamely.**

**"What possible problem were you trying to solve with this?" Dr. Cullen's face is red as he gestures towards the damage.**

**"What do you do when you have a lot of dirty windows?" I venture, Ben snickers.**

**"Very amusing Miss Dwyer, I think we are done for today." Dr. Cullen walks away shaking his head.**

**I shrug at Ben and make my way out of the lab. I am not surprised to find Garrett is waiting for me. I have become so accustomed to his presence in such a short time; it probably would be weird to me if he hadn't been there.**

**"Still impressing your teachers I see…" Garrett starts in, and then stops when he sees the look on my face.**

**The rest of the week goes pretty much the same, I show up for training sessions and either blow up, break, smash, or otherwise epically fail at every task that is put in front of me. My teachers try not to show their exasperation with my performance, but it is evident all the same. I see some of the others; Ben, Demetri, and Jake during my training sessions. They always encourage me while outperforming me in every task at hand.**

**On Friday I did not receive my day's schedule as had become the morning's customary routine. Instead, I open the door to find Garrett pacing back and forth looking very angry while talking on his phone.**

**"I don't know how or why, I just know that I don't trust her!" He barks into the phone. He looks up and sees me standing there, "She's awake, I'll call you back." And he hangs up.**

**"Trying to get rid of me already?" I tease Garrett, it never crosses my mind that I might be the person he didn't trust.**

**"What? Oh that, no…" He looks me in the eye. "Bella, we have a problem." He still looks very angry.**

**"Listen, I told Mr. Denali that I shouldn't be attempting to build my own hand grenades…. And anyone can mix up grams and ounces when measuring gunpowder…" I am indignant.**

**"****_Milli_****grams… Christ Bella, you nearly killed him. But that's not what this is about. We need to go talk to your father, now!" Garrett leads me down the stairs and to the breakfast nook that we usually eat breakfast in. Today my father is there and he does not look happy.**

**"Bella, good morning." He kisses my cheek. "We need to talk." We sit down and he takes my hand. "Bella, your training has been proceeding in an… unorthodox manner. So far, none of the various vocations our organization has to offer have deemed you to be suitable for further training." He holds up his hand. "It's not your fault, you've had a much later start than the others, but it has forced the Board to consider other options."**

**"Other options? What other options?" I do not like the sound of this.**

**"When I first agreed to your being trained, it was under the strictest guidelines that you be trained in vocations held by the Whites or Blues." My father leans forward in his chair. "Since you have been deemed unsuitable for any of these vocations, the Board has deemed your training is to be expanded to include the Red Collars."**

**"Okay, while I'm not thrilled about this, what's the big deal? I can pretty much guarantee that I won't do any better at this new training then I did at the last batch." I am missing something here, and it is becoming evident what that is when my father produces tomorrows training schedule.**

**"You don't understand Bella. Your Red Collar training is going to be "full immersion" training, not like the sessions that you have had so far. My father sounds helpless and he looks at Garrett. "Tell her."**

**Garrett looks like he is about to pop a blood vessel he is so enraged. "Bella, I won't be able to be present for your training, and the person they have slated is someone I don't trust. Her methods are among the most brutal, she has never failed to make a potential candidate acceptable for induction to the Red Collars.**

**"Who is it?" I whisper, fearing I know the answer.**

**"Esme Cullen, the head of the Red Collars."**

**.**

**.**

**.**

***AN*  
**

**Russian/English translations  
**

******_"Podozhdite minute!"_** Just a minute!

******_"Sovershenstvo!"_** Perfection!

******_"Pozdravlyayu!"_** Congratulations!

**Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winner on TLS The Other Side Of The Fence by EdwardsEternal.  
**

**Thank you all again for voting and helping this story win FOTW as well! Next Wednesday's update will be what a lot of you have been waiting very patiently (and some of you impatiently) for :)  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 12**

**"Bella I don't want you to worry about this." My father is livid and it shows. "I'm meeting with the Board, including Esme this afternoon." He looks at Garrett. "She is not to leave your sight until this is sorted out."**

**"Way ahead of you," Garrett grins at me. "Hey buddy!" He playfully punches my arm.**

**"Do you think that's a good idea?" I ask my father, "I don't want to cause you any issues within the organization." I didn't want to mention that I'm not comfortable having him fight my battles for me. I feel like it makes me seem weak and around these people that is the last thing I want.**

**"Good idea or not, that's what is happening." My father looks at me, "Unless you have an issue with me interceding?"**

**"I just don't want people thinking I go running to you whenever things go wrong. It's not good for either of us." I notice Garrett's smile, he knows I am catching on to how things work.**

**"This isn't a simple issue Bella, this is a power play. Putting aside that you are my daughter, if I let this go unchallenged I risk losing face anyway." He looks over at Garrett. "You have an opinion on this?"**

**Garrett looks at us and chooses his words carefully. "Charles, I know your reasons for wanting to keep Bella away from the Red Collars." He holds his hand up as my father opens his mouth to speak. "They are valid reasons; that is not the issue here. The issue is first, what is best for Bella, second it is what is best for the organization. In this instance you may have a way of dealing with two issues at once."**

**"How do you mean?" my father asks Garrett. I have to admit, I'm a little confused myself.**

**"Simple, you agree to the training and insist that Esme be the one to do it…" Garrett gets a twinkle in his eye. "Then you put stipulations in place, she can't leave the compound, she can't be forced to perform certain… acts." He glances at me. "If she refuses she is admitting she can't do it. If she agrees, well I think we can be certain she will fail. She won't dare cross you again after that."**

**"I don't know..." My father looks thoughtful. "I don't like using my daughter as a pawn on a chessboard."**

**"I want to help, and if it keeps me safe then why not?" I don't really understand the details of this plan, but I trust Garrett and if he thinks it is a good idea then I do too.**

**"Very well Bella, if that is what you want I will call for you to attend the meeting when it is time." He looks at Garrett. "I trust you will ensure the success of this little gambit of ours?"**

**"Of course." Garrett leaves no question as to his meaning. Having him as a safety net makes me feel infinitely better.**

**After breakfast I join Garrett in the antechamber to the Board room. We are waiting for me to be summoned inside. I notice that no one is giving Garrett tan issue being in the room with me this time. I get the impression it is something he dealt with personally.**

**"Ms. Dwyer? A kindly looking man opens the door to the Board room and enters the waiting area. "Would you please accompany me? The Board has requested your presence." He offers me his arm.**

**"Who are you?" I ask uneasily, it helps a little that Garrett is not objecting to this man's presence. Even so, I'm not about to walk away with a complete stranger.**

**"Where are my manners?" The man looks slightly embarrassed. "Vladamir Olaf Grigorii, at your service; I help Ms. Young with the day to day operations within the compound." His English is flawless and he has an old world charm about him, he is actually quite dashing.**

**"Thank you Mr. Grigorii." I take his arm and look back at Garrett. "Wait for me?" I ask him, trying to keep the nervousness out of my voice.**

**"Always." Garrett smiles back at me. "Vlad, you look after her, I'll be right outside."**

**"With my life sir!" Vlad clicks his heels together and I get the impression that this is not a figure of speech for him. We turn and walk the dozen or so steps to the Boardroom.**

**Upon entering I am confronted with the familiar sight of the table and the familiar faces of the board members. Eleazar is there this time, with my father and the others. Everyone looks very serious.**

**Vlad escorts me to a seat at the end of the table and holds the chair for me. He pours me a glass of water after I am seated, and gives me a kindly smile before standing off to the side of the room.**

**"Ms. Dwyer, it's so nice to see you again. I trust you are well?" Emily Young's smile is as phony as ever and seems to say to me, "**_**Let's see how you do without Garrett here to watch your back." **_**I return the smile, I really dislike this woman.**

**"Very well thank you. Garrett sends you his regards." I notice my father let a smile flicker across his lips at that one. Nothing better I suppose than seeing his daughter verbally spar with the best and come out on top.**

**"Emily, I think we can dispense with the pleasantries, we have a lot of ground to cover." Esme is dressed as usual and has obviously decided she will be leading this meeting. "The reason we are gathered here again is to discuss the training of Bella Dwyer. I move that in order to correct the obvious difficulties she is having with her current training, that it be immediately expanded to include training from my Red Collars.**

**"I'd like to say something before we vote." My father is deadpan, no emotion in his voice at all.**

**"Charles we tried things your way but the fact is the girl is not suited for the training. We have to do this before… other measures are entertained." Esme is not about to let my father steamroll her and is on the defensive.**

**"Esme, if you will calm yourself before you burst the last button you have left..." my father is referring to her low cut dress. "I was about to agree with you and ask that you take responsibility for her training yourself." There is murmuring among the other Board members at this statement. "I have some conditions though; since your reputation of being able to train anyone is spotless, I don't imagine they will be too much for someone of your talents to overcome."**

**She is trapped and she knows it. I remember playing chess with this man; he has the same look on his face that he got when I made a fatal mistake on the chessboard. My father is the kind of man that only enjoys trapping you after the moment you realize you cannot escape.**

**"I'm flattered Charles, at your estimation of my skills," she continues cautiously. "I would be happy to oversee her training personally as a personal favor to a dear friend and respected colleague." She licks her perfectly colored lips and glances up at him. "What are your stipulations?"**

**"Oh, nothing that is too terribly restrictive. I simply want to make sure that she doesn't leave the compound during her training. I just got my daughter back and would like to keep her close for a while longer. I'm sure you understand." My father looks amiable enough and I can see he is about to lower the boom on Ms. Cullen.**

**"Of course Charles, that fits in with my plans anyway, so I see no reason not to grant this request." Esme has relaxed a little, thinking she has out-maneuvered my father. This is a fatal mistake on her part as her next words indicate. "Is there anything else you require before we vote?"**

**"Just one little thing, I'm almost reluctant to ask as I'm sure a teacher of your caliber has already considered this…" Damn my father is slick when he needs to be.**

**Esme's face falls. He has her and she knows it. My father has just made a serious enemy and that is no secret to anyone in the room. "What is it?" she asks in a small voice.**

**"Just for you to humor a father's need to protect his daughter and ensure that she comes through your training… **_**intact.**_**" My father was referring to this in every sense of the word since I was still a virgin. I breathed a small sigh of relief.**

**"Of… course." Esme is defeated. "There are other methods we can use, she will be fine." She turns to the other Board members. "Shall we vote?"**

**With my father's stipulations the vote carried easily, and just like that I was slated to begin Red Collar training. As the Board is dispersing I catch the tail end of a conversation between my father and Esme.**

**"You may think you have outwitted me this time Charles, but I promise you I have a very long memory. And I can be very liberal with my interpretation of the word **_**intact**_**," she hisses acidly at my father.**

**"Ms. Cullen, you misunderstand my intentions." My father grabs the back of Esme's head and twists his hand into her red hair. He pulls her close and speaks directly into her ear. "If you think I'm playing games you overpriced gutter-slut then you have **_**fatally**_** underestimated me. My daughter will be returned to me in **_**pristine**_** condition, or I will erase your existence. You will spend the rest of your days trying to convince any government that will listen to you that you even exist. At least you won't starve to death… I hear hookers in Vegas make a pretty good living, and you won't even have to get used to fucking strangers." My father releases her and she tries staring him down for a brief moment before they notice me standing there.**

**"Ms. Dwyer, I will see you tomorrow for training?" Esme composes herself and my father regards her coolly when the most fantastic idea hits me.**

**"Looking forward to it ... But Ms. Cullen?" I begin with a phony smile on my face.**

**"Yes?"**

**"It's Ms. Swan." I walk past her and take my father's arm. ****He looks down at me, beaming with pride as we walk past a flustered Esme.**

**"Of course... I won't forget again." She is livid.**

**My father delivers me to Garrett before kissing my cheek and disappearing into another meeting. I tell Garrett everything that transpired, and he bursts out laughing.**

**"No you didn't!" he exclaims when I tell him what I said to Esme.**

**"I did so, I can be tough too you know." I try to sound indignant, but I am proud of myself.**

**"You did good kid. Keep that up and you'll come through this training just fine." Garrett frowns suddenly as the reality of our situation hits him. "I'll try and keep tabs on you the best I can."**

**"I know you will Garrett, thanks!" I hug him, he drives me nuts sometimes, but I trust him and that is precious to me.**

**The next day I skip breakfast and go straight to my new training. Garrett shows me to the "Red Collar wing" where he hands me off to Esme. He is not permitted to go any further and he knows it. This is Esme's domain and he is now entrusting my care to an enemy. He doesn't say much but he gives my arm a reassuring squeeze before he turns and leaves.**

**I expect Esme to turn on me almost immediately. After all, why keep up the pretense when there is no audience to benefit from it? But she is her usually pseudo-kind self and I am taken a little by surprise.**

**"So, Ms. Swan, may I call you Bella?" I nod and she continues, "What have you heard about what my Red Collar's do for the organization?" She studies my face as I reply.**

**"Not much, I heard that you gather information through seduction and blackmail." I see no reason to not be truthful on this subject.**

**"So basically, that we sleep with people in exchange for information?" Esme laughs. "Don't feel bad about your misconceptions; I'm afraid we are a very misunderstood group. Most of the other members would view us in a very similar manner, I'm afraid. I hope that, if nothing else, our training will help you to see exactly what it is we do."**

**A woman with long blond hair comes up and addresses Esme. "I'm sorry to interrupt Mistress, but the room you requested is ready."**

**"Fantastic, Bella this is Rosalie Hale, she will be assisting me with your training."**

**"Call me Rose, everyone does." She smiles at me and I smile back.**

**"Please follow her to the inspection room. I'll join you shortly; I'd like to see what we are working with." Rose takes my hand and I follow her down the hallway.**

**"I'm so happy to meet you Bella; I hope I can help you through your training. It isn't easy, and I know I wish I had someone to help me when I went through it." If she is trying to make me feel better she is failing.**

**"What is the inspection room?" I ask her as we walk. I notice no one else is around, but there is a lot of surveillance; more than in the other areas of the Compound.**

**"It's where we get you out of those clothes and see what we are working with." Rose gives me a head to toe look, "but I must say I think you'll do just fine." She gives me a wink.**

**I feel a little uncomfortable having my sex appeal rated but I push my fears down and reply, "Not looking so bad yourself." I am surprised to see her blush a little.**

**We make it to a room with a wardrobe in it. Rose tells me to undress and she will find something suitable for me to wear for Esme's inspection. She hands me a red silk robe and leaves the room.**

**I quickly undress and put the robe on, the last thing I want is for Rose to come back while I am halfway through disrobing. I like the silk robe; it feels cool on my skin.**

**Rose returns with a small black thong and a bikini top that should be called "why bother", I look at Rose questioningly.**

**"C'mon Bella, you will look great in it," Rose says sincerely.**

**I slide the thong on, take a deep breath, and drop the robe to put on the bikini top. I see Rose's eyes look appreciatively at my breasts and the erect nipples that are a result of the cool cloth running over them, (or so I tell myself). I put the top on and it barely covers me decently, but it lifts my breasts and makes them look fantastic, I look at Rose for approval.**

**She whistles and winks at me. "Good enough to eat," she whispers.**

**I put the robe back on and we wait for Esme, about five minutes pass and she comes in. "Good you are ready. Okay, let's see what we are working with." She motions for me to stand and drop the robe.**

**I comply, and she looks me over with a critical eye. She has me turn so she can inspect my calves, buttocks, hips, and stomach. "Very nice, what is your breast size?"**

**"Thirty-Six B," I reply quietly. I look at Esme's ample cleavage and feel slightly inadequate.**

**"They are forty-four double D's dear, and yes, they are mine," She answers my unasked question. "Don't worry, every man has very specific tastes, believe it or not, some men are actually turned off by a giant rack." She smiles. "Besides dear, it takes more than a good set of tits to do what we do. Isn't that right Rose?"**

**"Completely, my talent for instance is a little more… versatile." Rose licks her lips.**

**"Now Bella, I'm going to ask you some personal questions about, for lack of a better word, your love-life." Esme pulls out a tablet and starts going down the list. "Have you ever engaged in sexual intercourse of any kind."**

**"No." **_**Any kind? How many kinds are there?**_

**"Please state the extent of your sexual experience with men." Esme is inputting data on the tablet.**

**"I made out with a guy in high school once. We kissed and he touched me a little." I feel uncomfortable sharing this but the sooner this part is over the better.**

**"I see. Did he use his tongue? Where did he touch you?"  
**  
**"Yes, just on my breasts." My face is a mask, betraying nothing.**

**"Did you enjoy it?" Esme looks up at me.**

_**What?**_

**"I-I'm sorry?" I stammer.**

**"Did you enjoy it? Did you become aroused?" Esme is still staring at me.**

**"What difference does that make?" I snap back at her.**

**Esme sighs and stands up. "I had hoped we would skip this part of the training, you were cooperating so nicely." She stands very close to me and looks directly into my eyes, her smile is now gone. "You will answer my questions whether you understand their purpose or not. If you do not, I will recreate the scenarios and judge your reactions for myself… is that understood?"**

**"Yes," I reply softly.**

**"Yes, what?" Esme is obviously not playing around.**

**"Yes… Ma'am?" I answer cautiously.**

**"I'm sorry Mistress, I didn't tell her yet." Rose steps forward. "Bella, you will refer to her only as Mistress Esme or Mistress Cullen."**

_**Seriously?**_

**"Yes Mistress Esme." I correct myself.**

**"Good, now let's continue." She looks back to her tablet. "You made out with a boy in high school, he kissed you with his tongue, and he touched your breasts. Did you enjoy this?" She looks back up at me.**

**"No, Mistress Esme; I mean not really." I decide to save myself some trouble and play along for now. In my mind the words "Mistress Esme" and "Queen Bitch-Monster" are interchangeable.**

**"Explain, you don't like men?" Esme is making more notes.**

**"No, that's not it… Mistress Esme." I quickly add the last.**

**"He was unattractive?"**

**"No, he was very handsome Mistress Esme."**

**"Then what was the problem?"**

**"He was, just really bad at it... I guess." I finished lamely, forgetting to use the required title.**

**Esme starts to laugh. I think she is laughing at me for a minute, and then I realize she is just laughing in general. She stands up and walks over to me. "Bella… that is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time. Thank you for that. Would you like to know a secret?" She locks her gaze on mine and I nod. "This is something that took me many years and many men to find out…" She puts her lips close to my ear. "**_**They are all bad at it."**_** She backs away to study my reaction.**

**I must look very confused because she continues. "Bella, this is the secret every Red Collar knows. Men want release, that's it… if we can help them with that, then they will make stupid decisions to make that happen. But essentially, all they really want is to masturbate into us… or onto us. What we need to accomplish is to make them feel special, make them desire us… Not just jump into bed with them and let them seizure on top of us for a few minutes and then go to sleep. We need to make them willingly do **_**anything**_** for those few moments of release. Do you understand?"**

**"Not really, Mistress Esme." I am being honest.**

**"Of course you don't, you have never desired someone." Esme looks back to her list. "Last question, do you masturbate?"**

**"No, Mistress Esme." I'm not about to back down now.**

**"Really… Never?" Esme sounds surprised.**

**"Never, Mistress Esme." **_**If she is going to ask me every question twice this is going to take forever**_**. Oh well, I have nothing but time right now.**

**"So you have never climaxed? That is, had an orgasm?" Esme's disbelief is evident.**

**"I don't think so Mistress Esme."**

**"Oh, you would know if you did." She gives me a pitying look. "My poor Bella, we need to correct this immediately!"**

**I'm not sure what that means, but I have a feeling I am about to find out.**

**"Alright, we have two tasks for you to perform today." Esme put the tablet down and begins addressing me. "First, you will experience your first orgasm today. I will provide you with a variety of methods for you to achieve this, and you may select what you are the most comfortable with. We need to 'knock the dust off' so to speak, before we move onto the next task."**

**I am shocked at how cavalier she is being when discussing my sexual future. I decide right then that if I am going to get through this; I had better develop a much more liberal attitude towards sex in general.**

**"The next task," Esme continues, "will be a test of your ability to use your own sex appeal to get someone to do what you want." She opens the door. "But we will discuss that later. This way please."**

**I follow her to another room which holds five men and four women of various physical characteristics. There is also a table with a variety of what I assume are masturbatory aids of various shapes and sizes.**

**"Hello everyone, this is Bella." I notice Rose taking a position with the other women in the room. "Bella has never had an orgasm, and we are going to help her out today." Esme gestures to them all. "Bella, everyone here is an expert in dispensing pleasure, you may request any of them to assist you, or you can select an aid from the table and, take things into your own hands… So to speak. However, if you choose to handle this on your own, someone will have to stay to witness." Esme smiles at me. "Don't be shy my dear."**

**I scan the group and decide I will have to pick someone. The thought of masturbating for the first time with a stranger staring at me is unthinkable. "Mistress Esme? I would appreciate any advice you could give me in selecting someone."**

**"Of course, Bella. You men may leave." The men all file out of the room. "Not for a first-timer. One of my ladies will be a much better experience I'm sure." She turns to the ladies and motions for two of them to go, and for Rose and two others to step forward. "I noticed earlier you were slightly preoccupied with the breast area, so I have selected the three of my girls with the most beautiful breasts you have ever seen. Would you like to see them?" Esme looks at me expectantly.**

**I swallow, my throat is dry. "Yes, Mistress Esme."**

**"Ladies, if you would, please." **

**They all remove their tops and allow me to inspect them. They all have moderate sized breasts capped with perfectly symmetrical nipples. The redhead has freckles dotting hers, and the brunette has the slight tan lines from a string bikini. They are all beautiful, but Rose takes my breath away. Her breasts are perfect, perky with nipples that stand out just the right amount.**

**Esme must have noticed my gaze lingering on Rose. "Ladies, I think Bella has made her choice. Thank you for your time." As they file out Rose takes my hand and walks with me to another room. This room has a bed that we both sit down on.**

**Rose takes my hand and holds it while looking into my eyes. "Bella, I'm so glad you chose me. I promise if you feel at all uncomfortable we will stop immediately." She kisses my cheek. "Ready?"**

**"What do I have to do?" I don't know anything, but Rose's beauty is hypnotic, so I don't feel self-conscious.**

**"Just let go Bella, I'll take care of you." Rose leans forward and kisses me. I immediately know what her "other talents" are that she referred to earlier. Her kiss is entrancing; I barely notice anything else as she lays me back onto the bed.**

**She continues kissing me as her hands roam my body. At some point she takes what little clothing I am wearing off, but I don't care, I just want her to kiss me again. She does, harder this time, her tongue invading my mouth, and then retreats as I chase it with my own tongue… She sucks it into her own mouth and then I am kissing her. I feel our breasts press together as her nipples run over mine. It is electrifying and I am desperate for more.**

**Her hand travels across my stomach and down between my legs. I don't care, I want it, and I need it. Her fingers enter me and began a rhythmic massage. I begin grinding instinctively against her hand. The sensations are exquisite; I have never experienced them before. The speed of her hand increases, as has the insistence of her kisses. I don't know what is happening, but before I know it I am crying out as my brain is filling with a white hot light, and every muscle in my body clenches in ecstasy. I lie back on the bed and try to catch my breath as Rose kisses my cheek. "Welcome to the Red Collars."**

**And then she is gone.**

**After I collect myself, I get dressed (or what passes for dressed around here), and exit the room. What just happened? My mind is spinning and I am both confused and elated at the same time. I push the thoughts away. I have things to do.**

**I find Esme standing with her tablet, she looks up and smiles. "Enjoy yourself my dear?"**

**"Where's Rose?" I ask, forgetting to address Esme as I had been instructed.**

**"Don't get attached Bella. She has work to do, and so do you." She frowns at my forgetting the title.**

**"Of course, what do you need me to do Mistress Esme?"**

**"Much better Bella." Her smile returns. "I need you to demonstrate your ability to extract information. In the other room there is a young man that has a very important piece of information for me." I want you to extract that information from him and bring it to me. If you can do that, I will deem your training a success and you can go."**

**"Just like that?" I say in disbelief.**

**"Just like that," Esme replies. "But, if you fail… we take your training to another level."**

**"Well then, I better get started." Esme motions towards a door and I walk through it.**

**I enter what looks like a sitting room. In it are other red collars, each entertaining various people or speaking amongst themselves. I might have felt under-dressed in my red silk robe with very little underneath, but I am wearing more than some of the other Red Collars.**

**I spot him easily; a young man, slightly older than me. He is dressed in an expensive suit, no tie, and he looks completely bored with his surroundings.**

**I walk over to him and pretend to look at a painting. He stands next to me, checking his watch periodically.**

**"Got somewhere better to be?" I ask him.**

**"No, just waiting for someone," he replies in a bored tone.**

**"Well, I can think of worse places to be stuck waiting." I let my robe fall open a little.**

**"Listen, I know how things work around here, and I'm guessing you're new, so I'll give you some advice…" He is not taking the bait.**

**"I am new, and… untouched. They saved me just for you." I have no intention of following through with this, but if it gets me the information I need, I can play the part.**

**"Really? Just for me, huh? What's the catch?" He sits down in a chair and I stand with one foot on either side of his outstretched legs.**

**"I think you know what I need from you, before I can give you what you…need from me." I lean in close and let my breast brush against him. "The message for Esme." I whisper in his ear.**

**"So let me make sure I understand," he whispers back, his hands have moved to my hips as I sway to the soft music, grinding against him. "I get you, if I give you the message I have for Esme?"**

**"Mmmm, that's right baby, pretty good deal if you ask me." I fall into the role continuing to move against him.**

**"And you are sweetening the deal by saying I'm your first?" He is moving with me now. I can feel that my enticing is starting to have an effect.**

**"That's right, so what do you say?" I close my eyes and put my ear next to his lips, ready to hear the words that will give me my freedom.**

**Suddenly, he shoves me off of him and stands up. I stumble backwards but don't fall. "I say thanks but no thanks. I'm not a training pony for you to practice riding. I prefer my women to know what they are doing, and to be prettier." He walks away, leaving me standing there like an idiot, exposed.**

**I quickly exit the room and see Esme standing there. "Well, that was embarrassing, she says to me. Why don't you go put some clothes on and we'll discuss why that didn't work.**

**I go and dress in a basic skirt and blouse that is laid out for me. I don't even question how it is sized perfectly for me. When I exit the room I see Esme standing with the man who had just embarrassed me.**

**"Bella, please come over here, there is someone I'd like you to meet." She beckons me over. I walk up and try to act like I'm not bothered by the man's presence. "You mustn't judge him too harshly Bella; you were not expected to succeed at this task. That would have been truly remarkable, and after your other training performances with the other branches… Let's just say I wasn't expecting remarkable from you."**

**"So, this was just a lesson in humility?" I ask, my cheeks burning.**

**"Oh yes my dear, but not for you. Undoubtedly you will go running to your daddy about this, and he will know that this is the direct result of him crossing me." Esme continues to smile and the man clears his throat.**

**"Oh, but I'm being rude. Bella, I'd like you to meet my son. Edward, this is Bella Swan."**

**My heart sinks, this is Edward?**

_**Fuck!**_

_***AN*  
**_

******Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winners on TLS!**

******Contest Announcement - I have been getting a lot of requests for things to be put into the story that I can't work in but are good ideas, so I have come up with an idea. I am going to hold a contest, whoever gives me the best theory on what will happen next in the story will win a on-shot stand alone lemon, (written by me) with YOU as the main character. it will be you and any one of the characters in the story introduced so far, in a setting/style you choose. Basically, you say it... I write it. Please be sure to let me know in your review that you want your theory considered for the contest. Good Luck!  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 13**

**I stare dumbly at Edward, this is pretty much every nightmare I have ever had come to life. I had tried so hard to make a good impression on the others and now, the one person they take their lead from has publicly assisted in humiliating me. My mouth opens and closes a few times … great now my voice has decided to stop working. Nice work karma, I wouldn't have thought of that.**

**"I think you broke her dear." Esme is enjoying witnessing this further embarrassment. "At least you didn't make this one service you before you tossed her aside."**

**"Well in all fairness I wasn't in the mood to walk her through it." I don't know what is worse, the fact that Edward continued to belittle me like I wasn't there, or the fact that he didn't seem to get any satisfaction out of it one way or the other. "You know my rules mother, virgins can get too clingy. She'd have our children named before I'd wiped off and left. The crying gives me such a headache …"**

**That's it, I feel tears springing to my eyes but I push them down, I won't give them the satisfaction. And two can play at this game. "I think you may have misunderstood, I was given a task to do and you were in no danger of getting anything out of me. I was not in any way trying to get you too aroused, I needed you clear-headed to ensure the message was accurate and, in my experience I have found that men have been given a penis and a brain, but only enough blood to run one of them at once."**

**"In your experience? You aren't fooling anyone little girl. You are about as experienced with men as you are with being an astronaut." Edward chuckles at his own joke.**

**"I grew up in a rural area, worked on a pig farm one summer when I was fourteen. I find the skills to be ... transferable." I smile my biggest 'fuck-you' smile I could, then turned to Esme. "Are we finished for today Mistress Esme?" She nods and I turn on my heel and walk away without another word.**

**Rose joins me as I am walking down the hall, without any clue where I am going. She takes my hand and whispers to me "Don't look back, that was absolutely amazing. I have never seen anyone able to do that to him before!" We turn the corner and Rose hugs me tightly.**

**"He pissed me off. I get the feeling he does that a lot around here?" I don't want to, but I hug Rose back and let her linger. Her hair smells just like I remembered.**

**"Of course he does. He's been using the Red Collars as his own personal harem for years. No one stands up to him because of who his mother is. He delights in tormenting the new girls." She breaks the embrace and looks at me. "Until you came along that is… that was EPIC."**

**"Fat lot of good it'll do me. Esme will make me pay for that I'm sure. It won't do any of the girls he has tormented in the past any good either. Did he really do … what she said he did to another girl?" I'm not sure I wanted to know, but I am in the belly of the beast here and it is no time to be squeamish.**

**"Yes he did, and you've done her more good than you will ever know." Rose has a look in her eye that is profound sadness mixed with a thinly veiled rage. She blinks once and it is gone, she smiles at me and steers me toward another hallway. "I didn't want to mess up your dramatic exit, but you have no idea where you are going do you?"**

**"Not really, apparently I'm done for the day." I look around trying to get my bearings. "How do you not get lost in this place? Everything looks the same."**

**"I could tell you, but let's see if you can figure it out." Rose stands behind me, puts her hands on my hips and whispers into my ear. "Everything you need to know to find your way is in this hall, if you know how to look."**

**I look, slightly distracted by Rose's closeness and her touch. I look at the pattern on the polished stone floor. I notice that there are four colors, one on each corner of every center stone. Red, blue, black, and white; I tell Rose what I see, but I still didn't know what it means.**

**"Very good Bella!" Rose kisses my cheek. "You are the first one to get it so quickly. The colors are directions. Follow the red and you will end up in the dorms, blue will lead to the various eating and entertainment lounges, white is for the training areas, and black will lead you back out to the main hall to the exit.**

**I mentally make note of all of this, every piece of information helps. "Where am I staying?" I ask Rose.**

**"Well typically, trainees are given sleeping assignments, but because of your special training restrictions you are free to choose who you spend your nights with, if anyone. I can show you to a private room, or anywhere else you'd like to go." There is no question what Rose is offering and I want to take her up on the offer. I hold back, however, knowing that any attachments I form would put that person at risk, should Esme indirectly wish to hurt me further.**

**"I am a little hungry …" I venture, disappointment flashes across Rose's face, but only for a second.**

**"Of course, right this way." Hand in hand we walk toward the dining hall. I have a sumptuous dinner, realizing for the first time that I had missed lunch. After dinner Rose shows me to a single room where I can sleep. She informs me she will be just across the hall if I need 'anything'.**  
**.**  
**.**  
**.**

**The next few weeks go by in a blur, before I know it I am on my last day and preparing to leave. I am in the shower and Rose is waiting to help me dress and prep for my "placement ceremony" where the Board will decide which faction will be saddled with the girl, who apparently is good at nothing.**

**As I shower I reflect on everything that has happened during my time with the Red Collars. I think about Rose and how I had resisted getting too close to her. I like her, and I feel a certain attachment to her. That first night when I separated myself from her and was able to think clearly again, I realized that the feelings I was having for her were a result of a combination of my own sexual inexperience and her own training that I was responding to. She wasn't trying to seduce me; she just couldn't help being the person her training had made her. I avoided any personal attachments with her after that, though I had to admit, I did enjoy her company.**

**I thought about Esme, and the various mental games she played with me. I particularly loathe her for the stunt she pulled a few days earlier. I was subjected to a "documentation session" where I was basically stripped naked and photographed. Esme assured me that this was a standard practice, but I could tell that she was lying. She did assure me that it was fortunate that she didn't need to take a video of me since she already took the liberty of recording my session on my first day with Rose. I tried to play it off like it didn't bother me, but I could tell that my reaction to this news was written all over my face. Esme smiled at me then, she knew she had scored a hit.**

**Rose helps me dress in a nice outfit. I purposefully refuse to wear anything red. I wear a white blouse, black skirt and a blue silk scarf. I am not about to give the board any help seeing me as one of the Reds. I wear my mother's pendant, not tucked in as it usually was. As passive resistance goes, it isn't much, but it will have to do.**

**Once I am ready, Rose presses something into my hand. I look down and see ****a**** bracelet. Each link of the bracelet has a different color rose in between it. There is a red, white, blue and black rose on it. It is beautiful! I forget myself for a moment and hug Rose, thanking her for the gift. She puts it on my wrist, and kisses my hand.**

**"You're ready," she says. "You'll be fine, after today no one will doubt that you are one of us." ****I wasn't sure if 'one of us' means a Red Collar of just a member of the Gentlemen in general. I guess I will find out soon enough.**

**I walk down the corridor with Rose, using the stones to direct me to the exit. It is the only path I have never followed, I knew the day that I left I would follow it. I hadn't allowed myself to do it before then. It is my reward for coming through this ordeal, stronger then when I had entered.**

**Esme is waiting by the exit. "Bella my dear, I'm so sorry that our time has been so short. I have enjoyed being your instructor immensely, and I want you to know that you will always be welcome here." She smiles and holds out her hand to me.**

**"Thank you for your hospitality, and for making me a stronger person. I will always be grateful to you for that." I ignore her hand and turn to Rose. "Thank you so much for all your help Rose, I hope to be able to someday return the kindness you've shown me. One thing I want you know about me, I never forget to repay what is owed." I allow my eyes to shift to Esme and we lock eyes. She looks away first, my meaning is clear. I walk through the door without looking back. Garrett is waiting for me on the other side; he looks just as he did two weeks ago when I left him. It is as though he had stayed there and held vigil, waiting for my return.**

**"Hey kid," Garrett greets me as I come through the door. He puts his foot against the door as Esme starts to close it. "Just a minute please," he turns to me. "Is there anything we need to deal with right now Bella?"**

**My breath catches in my throat, I do not expect this. He is basically offering to start a war for me right here, all he needs is my word to do it. I love him for this, but I know that it is exactly what Esme wants and I'm not about to take the bait.**

**"No Garrett, everything is fine. I would appreciate it if you would accompany me to the placement ceremony." Garrett removes his foot from the door and follows me away from the Red Collar wing. I want to get as far away from Esme as possible.**

**"Okay kid, what gives?" Garrett knows something is up and he doesn't like mysteries.**

**"Nothing, this isn't the time." I have to think about my next move.**

**"Not the time? So something **_**did**_** happen?" Garrett stops and looks back at the door like he is ready to charge through it and start blasting away with Katrina.**

**"Listen Garrett, she wants me to complain to you and Dad, to force a confrontation. I'm not giving her the satisfaction. Think about it, all of this was designed to facilitate a power play to get one up on my father, I won't allow that." Garrett frowns uncertainly. "I'm fine, she followed the rules … basically."**

**"Basically?" From Garrett's tone, I get the feeling that I'm not making things better here.**

**"Yes basically, you didn't think that dad's little gambit was going to go unanswered do you?" I haven't been here as long as Garrett but I am amazed at how naïve he is being. "I'm not talking about it right now anyway. We can deal with it later." The placement ceremony is my only focus.**

**"Okay, but we **_**are**_** going to talk about this later …" Garrett obviously sees the wisdom in following my lead on this, but I know this is not the end of it.**

**We make it up to the Boardroom and I walk in with Garrett. I am early, so I am permitted to wait with Garrett in the antechamber.**

**We wait in silence until Garrett speaks up. "We missed having you around Bella, I'm glad you're back." He smiles at me, but I can tell he is scrutinizing me for signs of what had happened.**

**"It's good to be back. I missed you too." I really do not want to do this with him right now, but I smile and squeeze his big hand.**

**"Excuse me, Ms …" I look up and see Vladamir standing there, obviously confused as to how to address me.**

**"Swan." I help him out, I like Vladamir, but I am still cautious.**

**"Of course Ms. Swan, forgive me I won't forget again." Vladamir has an old fashioned charm about him. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but they are starting to come in now. Would you please come with me?"**

**"Of course, thank you." I turn back to Garrett. "I'll be right back, we'll talk more tonight okay?"**

**"Whatever you say kid," he looks me over. "By the way, you look fantastic." He gives me a kiss on the cheek and sits down to wait. "Knock 'em dead."**

**I walk the short distance to the entrance to the Board room with Vladamir. He opens the door for me and I enter. Everyone is there. My father and all the other Board members are seated in what I assume are their customary seats. I allow Vladamir to seat me, and then fade into the background as is his way.**

**"Welcome to your placement ceremony Bella." My father begins. "During this meeting we will hear from your trainers and decide which faction you will be placed in. If no one has any objections, we will begin now." My father looks around the table at his fellow Board members.**

**"I have an objection…" Esme's familiar voice fills the room. "This is your daughter, Charles. To avoid any conflict of interest I would like for you to name another Board member to preside over this in your stead. You are of course, still eligible to vote." It is obvious what Esme is doing here. She is gauging my father's support among the board members, and no one is speaking up in his defense. My father isn't stupid enough to fall for this and reveal his hand over such a petty request, so he bides his time.**

**"Very well, Mr. Black, would you be so kind?" My father shocks everyone by naming Mr. Black, I'm sure everyone expected him to name Mr. Cullen since he is a White Collar, but since he is married to Esme my father obviously feels he cannot be completely trusted.**

**"Sure Charles," Mr. Black begins. "So Bella, this is how this is gonna work." (I could listen to this man's Bronx accent all day.) "We are gonna discuss your training results and determine what it is you are good at. Then we are gonna vote, and basically whatever faction gets the most votes, is the one you are gonna be placed in."**

**I stand there and listen to the reports from the various instructors that I had encountered throughout various training sessions. None of them say anything negative, but neither did they sing my praises either. I am described as having only a 'basic' or 'rudimentary" grasp of the concepts that were shown to me and that 'no significant aptitude' was demonstrated with the various tasks I had performed.**

**Finally, Mr. Black is handed a report. "It is the judgment of Ms. Swan's trainers that her talents lie in the following areas. Observation, deduction, and social peer-bonding." I have no idea what that means but I am sure I'm about to find out. "These aptitudes are suitable for any of the various factions, so it comes down to the vote." Mr. Black passes around a black velvet bag. Every member casts their vote by placing either a red, blue or white token in it. Mr. Grigorii totals the votes and motions for the other members to gather around him. **_**Great, what now?**_

**"The rules are clear." I hear my father say to the other members.**

**"But it has never happened like this before." Esme responds.**

**"The rules make no such distinction." Ms. Young adds.**

**"Billy, please reveal the results of the vote to Bella." My father sits back down.**

**As they all move to sit down I see the tokens sitting on the boardroom table. There are two of each color sitting on the bag… a three-way tie.**

**"Ms. Swan, it is the determination of this Board that you be entered into full-spectrum training. Meaning you will be a member of each faction, and none." Mr. Black seems uncomfortable with his next question. "You will need to report to the head of one faction. Since it is a split vote, you get to pick your sponsoring faction for yourself."**

**"Whatever faction you select will be in charge of you in name only, you will be answerable only to…" my father trails off. "Well, you will be answerable to the Board. Your faction choice will be for administrative purposes only."**

**"I see, and I can choose any faction?" I have an idea, but I am stalling for time while I think it through.**

**"Oh Bella, don't be coy, I think we all know you will choose the Whites. After all, the safety of daddy watching over you is too good a perk to pass up." Esme is obviously not happy with this latest development.**

**"I think you once again underestimate me. I have decided." I take a deep breath, "I will choose the Red Collars as my sponsoring faction, if Ms. Cullen has no objections." I had the distinct pleasure of rendering that bitch speechless. **_**Suck it Esme, I play for keeps!**_

**"Of… course not. We'd be delighted to have you." Esme is not used to being caught off guard like this.**

**"Bella… Are you sure you want to do this?" My father's voice has a hint of warning to it.**

**"Yes Father, I appreciate your concern, but I don't want to complicate things with the appearance that I am getting special treatment, or give the illusion of impropriety. I think that the entire Board can agree that there is no conflict of interest here." I have to admit, I am impressed with myself.**

**"Agreed. If there is nothing else?" Mr. Black looks like he wants to lay down somewhere and have a stroke.**

**"Wait, the tokens?" Mr. Denali breaks his silence.**

**"Of course." My father says wryly.**

**The Board members all take turns presenting me with "tokens". Each one carries the symbol of the Gentlemen and they are all quite lavish.**

**My father gives me a pair of diamond earrings with the tri-ring symbol. Mr Denali gives me an ornate butterfly knife, Esme presents me with a brooch, and Mr. Cullen produces a signet ring. Ms. Young hands me a hairpin that looks like it can double as a stiletto (I have been hanging around Eleazar too much.) and Mr. Black hands me a device that looks like a gun, but no gun I had ever seen.**

**"What is it?" I ask him when he hands it to me.**

**"Billy …" my father begins in a warning tone.**

**"If she is to be part of the blues, even a small part she must bear the mark." Mr. Black is not leaving any room for discussion.**

**"So it's a …?" I am afraid to ask.**

**"Tattoo gun. You will receive the mark of the Gentlemen. I don't care where." Mr. Black is smiling.**

**"Tattoo? Yeah, sure … ok thanks." I figure as surprises go this one is fairly minor.**

**"Very good. Welcome aboard! Session adjourned, I need a drink!" Mr. Black stands and leaves the room.**

**I am escorted from the room and brought back to Garrett. I am not looking forward to telling him about this one.**

**"So, where did you end up?" Garrett is nearly bursting.**

**"Well, it's a little complicated …" I start, and then my father enters the room.**

**"Bella, what the hell was that? Have you lost your mind?" He is beet red and obviously furious.**

**"No, have you forgotten the advice you gave me?" I respond.**

**"What are you talking about?" he asks me perplexed.**

**"Esme is obviously making a play for your position as the head of the most powerful faction. Since you don't have anyone to keep an eye on things from within the Red Collars, I thought I could serve better in that capacity." I watch his face relax as he listens to me.**

**"Bella, that is brilliant, but dangerous." My father begins. "Anyway, what makes you think I don't already have eyes and ears in that area?"**

**I kiss his cheek and whisper to him. "Because if you did … She would have been killed my first day of training." I motion to Garrett. "Can we get something to eat? I'm starving!"**

**"Um, sure." Garrett is confused. "Is anyone going to tell me what is going on here?"**

**"Sure Garrett, but later ok?" I walk off with him and he persists.**

**"At least tell me what color collar you are." Garrett is starting to panic so I relent.**

**"It was a tie vote; I'm a … rainbow collar." I like the sound of that.**

**Garrett shakes his head. "Nothing's ever simple with you is it kid?" **

_***AN*  
**_

******Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winners on TLS!**

******I am also now on wordpress. Due to the number of fics being pulled from FFN I have decided to protect my work by putting it on Wordpress to protect the continuity (link is rjjking. wordpress. com [remove spaces]) Info can be found my FFN profile.  
**

**********Contest Announcement con't - (Winner will be announced next week) I have been getting a lot of requests for things to be put into the story that I can't work in but are good ideas, so I have come up with an idea. I am going to hold a contest, whoever gives me the best theory on what will happen next in the story will win a on-shot stand alone lemon, (written by me) with YOU as the main character. it will be you and any one of the characters in the story introduced so far, in a setting/style you choose. Basically, you say it... I write it. Please be sure to let me know in your review that you want your theory considered for the contest. Good Luck!**  



	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 14**

I explain the situation to Garrett over a meal in our familiar little breakfast nook. I missed having breakfast with Garrett and was happy to be back. Garrett seems happy to see me too, until I finish explaining the current state of things. Then he gives me the look that has become all too familiar to me as I seem to always be in situations he doesn't like.

"I still think you're insane." Garrett sips his coffee and looks at me. I can tell he can see that my training has changed me, he just can't place how.

"It was the better choice, not the easier one." I have changed; I never would have thought myself capable of playing such an elaborate game with such deadly opponents. I guess it is true what they say, adapt or die.

"That doesn't make it the _right _choice Bella, Christ! I promised your father that I would keep you safe. That is damn hard to do when you go around spitting in the eye of the toughest kids in the schoolyard." Garrett is exasperated, but I can hear a hint of pride in his voice.

"Listen Garrett, Esme has eyes and ears in every faction, with her husband in the Whites, and don't tell me that union wasn't a political one. She's also obviously able to intimidate Mr. Black; and her son has both Jake and Demetri wrapped around his finger." I have to make Garrett understand, I can't do this alone.

"And you thought this was the best way to even the score? Look Bella, it's one thing to be in a faction. Spying and essentially betraying your peers will have implications that neither your father, nor I can protect you from. This is a dangerous game you are playing." Garrett is not telling me anything I don't already know.

"Of course it's dangerous, but I don't have a choice," I hiss at Garrett. "Do you know what they said my inherent talents were? Observation and deduction. Up until now, I didn't always trust that what I see when I look at a given scenario is really what is there; mostly because I see details no one else does. But now I realize that I do see things differently, and I trust what I see."

"What are you saying Bella?" Garrett knows this conversation is about to go in another direction, he just doesn't know where.

"When my mother died, I noticed things, things I didn't say anything about. I thought I was just grief-stricken, but I know now that they were important." I have Garrett's attention now.

"What things?" he asks me, alarmed now. "What are you talking about?"

"My mother didn't come back up wearing a tank; no one ever really addressed that. Newt disappeared after being questioned only once by the police; and the boat he had was way too lavish, even by these standards." I motion around me at the opulent surroundings. "The whole thing stinks, and I need to find out what actually happened." It is the first time I have said anything about this out loud. I need him to believe me.

Garrett's look softens and he begins to speak cautiously, "Bella, I think we can all agree that I see enemies around almost every corner. Hell, I have been known to be overprotective at times, but don't you think maybe, just maybe, you are seeing something that isn't there?" He is trying to spare my feelings but I don't care, I explode.

"Really? After all the cloak and dagger crap, and me believing every unbelievable piece of information you people decide to give me, and you can't trust me on this one thing?" I feel betrayed, Garrett is supposed to understand. "Well I know what I saw, so fuck you, and fuck the Gentlemen; you people have trained me to trust my instincts and now you want to me to second-guess them?" I stand up to leave but Garrett grabs my hand.

"Calm down kid, I didn't say I didn't believe you." Garrett waits for me to sit back down. "So what's your play here? How are you going to prove it?" I breathe a sigh of relief, with Garrett on my side I feel better.

"I don't know, I need to know the 'why', that will lead me to the 'who'." I don't know where to even begin. "Where do I begin Garrett? I have hunches but no idea what I'm doing." I feel stupid and like a little girl asking for help tying her shoes.

"Don't worry kid; I'll do some poking around for you. If there is anything to be found, you can be sure I'll find it." Garrett's smile makes me feel better, I know he means it and isn't just placating the bosses daughter.

.

.

.

The next three weeks I don't see much of Garrett. I am busy with my training, and as my father puts it, 'You have three times as much to learn as everyone else'. I do weapons and combat training with Demetri and Jake, decryption and counter surveillance with Ben and Alice, and of course learning seduction and observation techniques from Rose. I settle into the training regimen and start to look forward to the 'kill house' competitions with Jake, and once or twice even beat Alice on the speed test when decrypting a trusted platform module protected hard drive.

As a red collar I excel at the observation aspect of the training but I'm hopeless at seduction. Esme describes me as a 'drunken prom date' whenever I attempt to use my feminine wiles to extract information. Rose is patient with me and assures me that I am getting better.

I remain ever vigilant, gleaning information whenever my peers let any facts slip. I make a game of it. I challenge myself to extract two facts from them the first day, then three the next, and so on. Then, by the end of the week, I would start over again. I don't always learn anything of value but I can't discriminate; information is information.

I learn Demetri got his nick-name 'Dim-wit' only partly because of his name; the other reason was for blowing off part of his finger when he tried making a custom micro-primer cord and used an incorrect chemical mixture. I learn that Alice 'had' a brother, but I couldn't get any more information than that. Jake I learn is very attracted to women with tattoos. He even offers to help me design the tattoo that will house the symbol his father had decreed I must be marked with. He designs a feather tattoo that will work nicely on my left shoulder-blade. The symbol, he tells me can be worked into the main tattoo with ultraviolet ink. It will only show up under a blacklight, and will otherwise be invisible. I ask him what the point of the feather tattoo is, why don't I just get the symbol on me in his invisible ink? He just shrugs and says it looks hot. I roll my eyes.

Ben is a challenge to learn anything from. I learn though, that his father and Mr. Cullen had a falling out after they both were jockeying for the second-in-command position for the White Collars. I don't get any details, but I get the impression that they do not speak anymore.

I see Edward every so often in random training sessions. It is even more infuriating that he excels at every task. If I shot dead center in the target's chest he would drop three shots in the head, then he would toss a "Three in the head, you know they're dead." at me with a grin.

I figure the fact that Edward is a few years older than any of us is the reason behind, what I view as nothing short of a chaotic training schedule. I never know one day to the next if he will show up to a random session I am at. Sometimes I would go days on end without seeing him, other times I would see him a lot more than I would like. He is infuriating me, providing helpful 'tips' with his pasted on smile. I want to drop three in _his _head.

One day, I am slated for Red Collar training with Rose. I had come to look forward to these sessions as I never had to endure Edward's presence during a Red Collar training session before; unless you count that first day, and I didn't.

I am handed a small pistol and told that today is a mock-assassination simulation. I check the magazine and see it is filled with paint-spatter bullets. I learned early on to check my own ammo after Jake switched my rounds with blanks before we went into the kill-house, essentially leaving me unarmed. Lesson learned, and I never relied on anyone to load my weapons again. I chamber a round and ask Rose who the target is. She grins.

"Edward… You're welcome." Her impish grin grows wider. "He thinks he is here to tap and decrypt a computer. You get to stop him." She motions to the door. "Have fun!"

I walk through the door and realize it is the same room where I first met Edward; how appropriate that this be the room where I redeem my self-respect. I spot him over in the corner and it hits me, he thinks he is so superior; I will use that against him. He will never think he is in danger from someone he considers beneath his notice.

I wander over awkwardly, Rose has taught me how to glide stealthily across the room, but for the purposes of this exercise I am allowing my original awkward self to roam free.

"Graceful as ever, aren't you?" He doesn't even turn around; the trap is baited and set.

"Hey, I'm doing better, last week I couldn't even walk in these shoes." _Five steps away…_

"Well, it's a good thing we aren't using games of tag as training sessions. You'd end up with a broken ankle for sure." He turns to me. "Still angry with me?"

Crap, he would choose now to acknowledge my existence. "For what?" I ask innocently.

"Before... I was warned about you, ahead of time. You do know that right? You never stood a chance." He smiles and seems like he is being genuine, I know better.

"Oh that? I had forgotten all about it." He isn't buying it. He studies me, trying to figure out my purpose here.

"So,what are you doing here? You have another training session?" He is eyeing me cautiously. I have to find a way to distract him.

"Actually, I am looking for Rose, have you seen her?" I am going off the cuff here.

"Nope, what do you need her for?" he sounds bored. _Good, keep thinking that._

"No reason, I am hoping to spend a little time with her if she is free. We have a … special arrangement." I pretend to scan the room looking for someone I know isn't here.

"Special?" Edward isn't bored anymore. "Really… You and Rose?" _Such a typical man._

"Oh yes, your mother introduced us, didn't she tell you? She has taught me so much already, she's a_ fantastic _teacher." I didn't want to lay it on too thick. "If you see her can you tell her I am looking for her?" It is time to see if I have judged him correctly.

"Wait a second Bella, I'll help you look for her." And the trap is sprung. "She's likely in the other dining hall if she isn't here." He starts toward the door, revealing to me he knows his way around here more than any non-Red Collar should.

"That's okay. I don't want to keep you from... whatever it is you are doing here." I don't want to appear too eager.

"Oh it's no big deal, just more training… I'll blow it off." Edward is actually trying to impress me. This is too easy.

"Well, if you help me, maybe I can help you. What are you training for?" I try to look as innocent as possible.

"Well it's stupid, but I have to steal a pair of underwear from a Red Collar." He winks at me. "I don't suppose you could help me out with that?" _Is this guy serious?_

"Sure, help me find Rose and I won't need them." I walk past him and he follows behind me, practically drooling. He's mine.

We wander around a bit, I make a show of looking for Rose. When we don't find her I ask him what time it is and pretend I have wasted too much time; I have to go.

"You've been so nice to help me though. I feel bad that I kept you from your task." I giggle shyly. "I suppose you can have my underwear anyway, even though we didn't find her."

"Yeah?" Edward was eager, too eager. One more nail in the coffin, and he is mine.

"Sure, go ahead… claim your prize." I lean against the wall preparing for what is to come next.

He kneels down and slides his hands up my legs under my dress. Higher and higher until he realizes what I have known all along, I'm not wearing any underwear. The pistol barrel is cold against his temple "Bang" I whisper… "You're dead."

Edward's face goes red with fury. "You can't…" he stammers.

"Can't what? Beat the great Edward Cullen?" I laugh. "Oh but I have, and that is the best part."

"That wasn't fair…" he lamely objects.

I laugh again scornfully. "Not fair? Let me tell you about fair. I missed out on a life with my father because of this organization. My mother died right in front of me; I had to leave everything and everyone I have ever known to come here, where I'm the worst at every task I am given. Then, when I finally figure out how to play on the fact that everyone thinks I'm too stupid to accomplish anything, you tell me it's not FAIR?" I walk away from him. "I trust you can find your own way out?"

"Bella, wait. I didn't mean ... Can't we work out a deal? I have a perfect record; you could just walk away and let me finish my task." He sounds different when he is desperate, all arrogance gone.

"Edward?" I level the pistol at him and squeeze the trigger the way Yorgi had taught me. I am not a good speed-shot but when I can take my time I don't miss. Red paint blossoms at Edward's crotch. He falls to the ground with a groan. "One in the dick… because you're a prick." I walk away and leave him lying there.

Rose is waiting around the corner laughing hysterically. "Bella, that was fabulous! I will be showing the surveillance tapes of this mission to people for weeks." She hugs me. "You were supposed to use a kill shot you know."

"I took his life… the part that mattered anyway." I grin.

"That you did. Very good, I think we are done for the day." Rose is still trying to compose herself when I exit.

Edward avoids me a lot after that day. I never tell anyone the story, but word got around anyway. I enjoy an elevated status in our little group, as one of a select few people that have gotten the better of Edward. Training becomes a common part of the routine until the start of fall when Garrett reappears at the compound and informs me that we are leaving for Yale the next day.

"But I haven't even applied or picked any courses yet." I exclaim, I had completely forgotten about college and fell back into my old habit of needing to be over-prepared for things.

"Yes you have, your father took the liberty of setting you up as close as possible to what you had picked for yourself at Oxford." Garrett is still very patient with me whenever I forget how things work in this new world I am in.

When we leave to go to Yale, I drive in a limo with Alice, Jake and Demetri. I find out that Ben is already there and no one mentions Edward. It is Demetri's first year at Yale too, so at least I'm not the only one with no idea where I'm going or what I'm doing.

"Don't worry Bella, us girls will stick together, I won't let you get lost. Besides, you will love the house they have for us." Alice is beaming, she is obviously very happy to have another girl to converse with, even if it is me.

When we arrive, Alice gives me a tour of the house where we will all be staying. It is a small mansion with servants and lavish bedrooms. All my things have already been brought in, and I notice that Alice and I have one whole wing to ourselves; while the boys have their own wing on the other side. Garrett is waiting for us, as are a few other 'Gentlemen' that are obviously there as security. There is no doubt that Garrett is in charge though.

I hear the sound of a powerful car engine and see what could only be described as an exotic sports car pull up. I am not the least bit surprised to see Edward get out of the gull-winged car and toss the keys to the nearest servant. "In the garage, I don't want the paint to fade." He yells over his shoulder as he walks in.

I go into the kitchen with Alice and we sit and chat over a cup of tea. Jake and Demetri join us shortly after; there is still no sign of Ben.

"Where's Ben? I thought he would be here," I ask as I sip my tea.

"Oh, he practically lives in the science labs on campus for the first three weeks or so, until he gets his room customized to the point where it is better equipped than the school," replies Jake. He and Dimitiri are taking turns tossing peanuts across the table into each others mouths.

"So this is where you guys are hiding." Edward breezes into the room, his hair is damp, he had obviously just taken a shower. "Tea? This is what you guys are doing for fun?" He wrinkles his nose in disgust.

"What did you have in mind?" Alice looks at Edward like a patient babysitter waiting for a tantrum.

"Let's let the new girl decide, see what her idea of fun is." Edward is setting me up for ridicule and has obviously forgotten who he is dealing with.

"Well," I begin slowly. "I was going to suggest paintball, but we both know that isn't really your game now, don't we?" I look over my cup at Edward as his face reddens.

Demetri chokes on a peanut and Alice just about blows tea through her nose trying to stifle a laugh.

"Damn Bella, sick burn!" Jake is looking at me with admiration when Garrett walks in.

"Edward we need to talk." Garrett is not pleased.

"Yeah, about what?" Edward turns to face Garrett.

"The car, It's too high profile. It will have to stay in the garage." Garrett is in full security mode and he is regarding him with a deadpan look that I know can turn ugly any minute.

"What? My ride?" Edward is already angry and in no mood for Garrett. "I don't remember asking you for your opinion when I bought it, and… oh wait, that's right. It was because I didn't give a shit." Edward is obviously trying to solidify his shaky hold as alpha male by demeaning Garrett, I sit back to watch the result.

Garrett shocks me by simply nodding and walking out of the room. Edward looks smug, "Damn hired help needs to be reminded who is in charge around here every once and awhile. "You would do well to remember that Bella, you don't make friends with them ..."

I am about to respond when I hear the unmistakable report of a high caliber weapon. We all look at each other, alarmed for a moment, and then Demetri jumps up, "This is a .50 caliber Desert Eagle with extended muzzle, firing teflon coated armor piercing frangible rounds. I know this gun."

So did I, that was Katrina.

We run to the front door, hearing a few more shots ring out and arrive just in time to see Garrett finish off the 'happy face' pattern he was shooting into the engine block of Edward's luxury sports car.

"What the fuck Garrett! " Edward is livid. "Do you know how much that car is worth?"

"In its present condition?" Garrett drops the spent clip out of Katrina and replaces it with another one, chambers a round and places her in his shoulder holster. He looks back at his handiwork and then turns back to Edward with his trademark deadpan look. "Not a whole hell of a lot." He looks at one of the other guards. "Call a wrecker and get that thing out of here before it leaks oil all over the driveway."

"You're going to pay for this." Edward growls and then stops as Garrett turns back to him.

"Edward, the only thing I'm paying for is your parents' incessant need to indulge your behavior. I want to make one thing very clear to you, I'm not your daddy, I'm not going to tolerate your bullshit. My job here is to keep _all _of you safe. If you follow my instructions I can be very pleasant, if you don't and your actions endanger anyone under my care, I can be equally… unpleasant." Garrett holds Edward's gaze, daring him to make the next move.

"I don't think you have the slightest idea who you are dealing with, you're a glorified mall security guard." Edward obviously doesn't know when to quit. "I've been trained by the best and have no need for protection."

Garrett continues to stare at Edward. He doesn't move even when Edward gets right up in his face screaming at him like a petulant child. Then, Edward makes his final mistake by jabbing a finger into Garrett's chest.

Faster than I (or Edward) can react, Garrett snatches Edward's hand in a pinch-grip on the flesh webbing between the first finger and thumb. I remember this pressure point from training and that, when done correctly, it was not only excruciatingly painful, but also could cause the victim to lose control of certain bodily functions.

"You don't seem to get it_ boy_, so let me explain it in words you understand." Garrett Is speaking in a deathly quiet voice now, cold and dispassionate. "_I am calling the shots here._ If you have a problem with that, you are welcome to complain to whoever you want, as long as it isn't me. Until I hear otherwise from my superiors, I invite you to enjoy a steady diet of _shut the fuck up!_"

Garrett releases Edward and walks back inside. We all know who is in charge here, and it isn't Edward.

_***AN*  
**_

******Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winners on TLS!**

******I am also now on wordpress. Due to the number of fics being pulled from FFN I have decided to protect my work by putting it on Wordpress to protect the continuity (link is rjjking. wordpress. com [remove spaces]) Info can be found my FFN profile.  
**

**********Contest Announcement: Congrats to Monica Solis for winning the contest I will have her one shot written by next week and awarded to her.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related, Goodfellas and Mobsters are copyrighted material that I do not own either. Toad's Place is an actual bar in New Haven CT that I do not own but I do enjoy their drink specials and local bands.**

**In light of the Sandy Hook incident in my home state of CT I feel compelled to warn my readers that this chapter does contain violence in a school setting that may be upsetting to some readers.**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 15**

After the incident with his car, Edward laid low for the rest of the evening. I thought it would be an uneventful night of relaxation and maybe some conversation with the others. That thought went out the window when Jake brought out the tattoo gun and announced that it was time for me to get my tattoo.

"You're doing it?" I ask incredulously. "What if you screw it up?"

"Gee, thanks a lot Bella, I'm hardly insulted by that at all." Jake feigns hurt feelings.

"How do I know that you even know what you're doing?" I am not keen on letting Jake do the tattoo, even if his drawn design was beautiful.

"Demetri, show her the one I did for you." Jake looks smug as Demetri walks over and pulls his shirt over his head.

I gasp as Demetri turns around and shows me the artwork on his back. It is nothing short of beautiful. It is an incredibly detailed phoenix that covers almost a third of his back from his left shoulder to the lower left side of his back. Every feather is perfect in detail and the flames are so realistic and vibrant against Demetri's pale skin. I am sold.

"You … did this?" I am stunned. "How long did it take?"

"Four three-hour sessions; that was a few years ago. I've gotten better. I should be able to do yours all at once. What do you say?" Jake looks eager to get started.

"Okay, what do you need me to do?" I obviously have no experience with this type of thing.

"Well, I need access to your back, so your shirt and bra have to go…" Jake holds up his hand, "Relax Bella, I'm under no illusions that you are about to whip your tits out for all of us here. Just go put on a bathrobe, but put it on backwards so I can get to your back." He grins at me.

I do as he tells me, and then he has me lie down on the floor where the others have put some couch cushions so I am comfortable.

"First, I'm going to draw the outline on you and you can let me know if you like the position of it." Jake has inked the design onto a sheet of transfer paper and he presses it against my skin after first prepping the area with rubbing alcohol.

After a few adjustments I am happy with the location of the stencil and Jake gets to work. I expect it to hurt more than it does, I listen to Alice and Demetri comment as Jake continues with his work.

"Amazing work Jake." Alice is examining the freshly inked design as he finishes up with the black, and pulls out a vial of his special ultraviolet ink.

"Now for the finishing touch." Using the ultraviolet ink like we discussed, Jake adds the tri-ring symbol of the gentlemen to the artwork he has already created.

"Are you almost done?" I have been laying on the floor for a while and it is starting to get uncomfortable.

"Just about, don't move." Jake finishes up and smears a disinfecting cream over the new tattoo. He then takes some clear plastic wrap and sticks it to my back. "Keep that on until tomorrow night." He helps me to my feet, "You done, good, it came out great."

"Did it?" I look at the others for approval.

"Very good!" Demetri is sincere.

"It looks beautiful, Bella. Jake, you are getting really good; if you keep improving I might let you do one on me someday." Alice winks at Jake.

"Anytime, beautiful!" Jake finishes packing up his equipment and then runs up and grabs Alice and throws her over his shoulder. "So, what are we doing on our last night of freedom before school starts?"

"The answer to that is simple." We all turn to see Edward in the doorway … "Anything we want!"

We end up watching movies, Demetri makes some homemade fireworks, and we set them off in the backyard by the pool. I'm pretty sure I see Alice kissing Jake before the end of the night.

.

The next day is my first day of university. There is a lot of orientation and housekeeping; going over class syllabuses and meeting a lot of new people. True to her word, Alice helps me find my way around so I don't have to get lost like the other freshmen. I see a few envious looks from lost students that wish they had someone to usher them around. It is nice, but it doesn't help me make any new friends.

I make it about halfway through my first day before I actually speak to another person. She is standing in the hall and checking her campus map. I recognize her Sociology 101 textbook and suspect she is headed the same place I am.

"Heading to Sociology 101?" I ask her.

"Huh? Oh yes, do you know the way?" She looks over her map at me hopefully.

"Sure, follow me. I'm rooming with a bunch of people that are second and third year students so they kind of gave me the lay of the land. By the way, I'm Bella Swan."

"Grace Blue, call me Gracie. Thank you again for helping me out, I know literally no one here." I like her; it is nice to be around someone that I don't have to speculate about ulterior motives and back-alley connections.

We make it to class, I give her my email address and cell number so if she ever needs anything she has someone to call. Having experienced for myself what it is like to be alone, I don't wish that feeling on anyone else.

At the end of the day Alice is waiting for me outside my last class. I am eager to tell her about the new friend I have made. I feel silly, like a kid coming home from my first day of grade school.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Alice seems genuinely interested.

"I did! I even made a friend in one of my classes." I try to sound nonchalant but my excitement is hard to contain.

"Wait a minute … a friend? Didn't Garrett talk to you?" Alice sounds concerned.

"Talk to me? About what?" I know I am not going to like this.

"We don't make friends, with anyone. There is too much at stake and too much risk involved." Alice is not telling me this to be mean, she is actually surprised I don't already know this.

"I would never tell her anything." I start to protest.

"Not the point, what are you going to do? Invite her over for dinner? Go to dinner with her and explain Garrett tagging along? Trust me, Bella, it will never work. You are from two different worlds." Alice shrugs, "Talk to Garrett, but I can pretty much guarantee you he's not going to like it."

I am silent for the trip back to the house. I don't want to hear any more about what I was and was not allowed to do in my new life. When we arrive, I walk in and go straight to my room; slamming the door behind me.

I have been in my room for only a few minutes before there is a knock at the door. I know it is Garrett, wanting to know what is up. I have no idea what Alice has told him, but it is not a conversation I want to have.

"Go away Garrett, I don't want to talk right now!" I yell at the door.

"Bella, what happened? Are you alright?" Garrett sounds concerned, I don't like worrying him but I don't want to hear anything he has to say.

"I said go away!" Raising my voice louder.

I hear the door open, he isn't listening. I am hardly surprised, it's not like I think he will pick now to start doing what I tell him.

"Bella, what happened?" Garrett is not asking as a friend now, this is the man who is in charge of my safety and he wants answers.

"Didn't Alice tell you?" I snap at him. I am curious to find out how much I can actually trust her.

"I'm not asking Alice, I'm asking you." Garrett is no stranger to this game and is not giving me any information that he doesn't want me to have.

"I was just enlightened about the rules regarding who I can and cannot associate with, and I'm not thrilled about it, okay?" I'm not about to give him the satisfaction of breaking down, but it is a bit of a struggle. I'm embarrassed by my weakness.

"What do you mean? Who did you talk to?" Garrett is alarmed now.

"No one special; I just made friends with someone in my SOC-101 class. It's no big deal." I want to placate him; maybe he will make an exception.

"Bella, this is important. Who is this person? What did you say to them?" Far from being placated, Garrett is sounding more anxious.

"No one important! Look, her name is Gracie Blue…"

"Gracie blew who?" Jake wanders into the room. "She sounds like my kinda girl." He winks at me.

"Jake, this is not a good time…" Garrett growls at him.

"Hey man, I just want to check on Bella's ink. Gotta make sure it is all healing up right and not bleeding or anything." Jake is oblivious to what he has walked in on.

"OUT!" Garrett's patience has reached its limit.

"Alright, alright I'm going! Bella, come find me later okay?" Jake retreats.

"Now, Bella, answer my question. What did you say to this girl?" Garrett is not backing down.

"Nothing! I just made friends with her, gave her directions to a class that we share, and then we exchanged cell numbers and email addresses. That's it!" I am a little insulted that he would think I am dumb enough to tell the first random student I meet all about the secrets they have entrusted to me.

"Bella, I'm sorry. I thought you understood." Garrett looks uncomfortable. "You cannot maintain friendships or relationships outside of the group. It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, Alice told me. Is that it? Are we done here?" It is easier not to cry if I focus everything toward being angry at Garrett.

"Not yet…" He holds out his hand. "Your phone?" Garrett says apologetically.

"Take it!" I throw it at him and he snatches it out of the air effortlessly.

"I'm sorry Bella, I'll have a new number programed into it." Garrett turns to leave. "I'll have Ms. Blue moved to another SOC-101 class so you don't have to deal with having to explain."

"Don't you dare screw with that poor girl's schedule!" I roar at him. "Bad enough the only friend she has in the world is going to disappear on her without a word. Move me to a different class, not her." I sit down on the bed. "She'd never find the new classroom."

"Okay Bella, if that is how you want it." Garrett walks out and closes the door behind him.

.

I come downstairs for dinner after hiding out for an hour or so. Jake checks my tattoo and tells me it is healing fine, and I will be able to take the plastic off by tomorrow. He places some more antibacterial ointment on it.

After dinner, Jake declares it 'Mob movie night' and we all go into the living room to watch a Mobsters/Goodfellas double feature. It rapidly turns into a deconstruction of the validity of the movies, as well as a general mob knowledge trivia session.

"Who are the two main mobsters missing from this movie?" Jake tosses out while we are watching a young non-Italian actor play Lucky Luciano, while the only Italian in the movie plays Bugsy Siegel, a Jew.

"Too easy, Dutch Schultz and Albert Anastasia." Alice laughs as she throws popcorn at Demetri. "My turn, who was the main suspect in the Albert Anastasia barbershop hit?"

"Crazy Joe Gallo," Ben says without looking up from his book. I forgot he was there. He reappeared that evening from wherever he had been hiding out, and decided to join us. "What card was Joe 'the Boss' Masseria holding when he was shot in the restaurant by Benny Siegel and Frank Costello?" he tosses out for us to fight over.

"Come on, even Bella can get that one!" Edward looks smug. "It was the ace of spades from a Tally-Ho deck. Only the most famous mob hit photo next to Bugsy's shot-out face." He leans back. "My turn."

"Actually, that's wrong," I say softly.

"What did you say?" Edward looks surprised.

"I _said_ that's wrong. Joe 'The Boss' didn't die with any card in his hand. It was placed there by an enterprising young photographer and it became an iconic photo; but it was staged." I know I'm right, but I enjoy goading Edward.

"You know, I think Bella is right." Alice sits up, "I remember reading something like that once." She looks right at Edward. "We can Google it if you want a ruling." Alice smiles at me.

"Nah, let her have it." Edward stands up, "I'm done anyway." He walks toward the door.

"Don't you want to see if you can answer my trivia question?" I ask him, smiling innocently?

"Ha, sure. What have you got, little girl?" Edward is back to being patronizing again.

"Okay, here we go; for the win." I lick my lips, "Who was known as the canary that could sing, but couldn't fly?" I watch their faces.

Edward's face falls, I know he doesn't know. "This is a stupid game anyway." He storms out of the room.

"Bella, you really shouldn't goad him like that," Alice chuckles.

"So, I take it that I win?" I look around the room. Jake shakes his head, Ben shrugs and Alice has no answer either.

"Abe Reles," Demetri says softly.

"That's right Demetri! How did you know?" It is not a common mob story. Informant Abe 'Kid Twist' Reles, a Jewish mobster, was in a hotel under NYPD protection waiting to give testimony when he mysteriously took a nosedive out of the window and was killed. Speculation has included suicide, murder by cop, or a mob paid hitman.

"My grandfather was the one who gave him his flying lessons." Demetri gets up and walks out of the room without another word. The game is over.

.

The next day I'm not permitted to leave the house. None of us are, and no one is talking. We all speculate about what is going on, but Alice says it is probably nothing. I think it might have something to do with my breaking the rules, I don't realize how accurate my suspicions are.

"There has been a murder on campus!" Jake comes running into the room, he stops short when he sees me and looks at Garrett who is making a cup of coffee in the corner.

"Go ahead and tell her Jake, she's going to find out anyway." Garrett sighs and sips his coffee.

"Tell me what?" I look at Jake.

"The victim was that girl you met, Gracie Blue. She was found strangled and dumped on a trail between the campus dorms; the cops are investigating." Jake pauses to let this information sink in.

"Why?" I turn to Garrett. "What did you do to her you fucking psychopath?" I scream across the room.

"Nothing Bella, we had nothing to do with it. It's why I have you on lockdown. Until we can confirm this is nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence, no one is leaving. We can't ignore that this girl was killed less than a day after meeting you." Garrett maintains his trademark calm.

"Garrett, if you had anything to do with this I swear to God I'll…" Garrett cuts me off by raising his hand.

"Bella, I wouldn't go throwing that statement around lightly if I were you. You never know when God is listening. If it were me, they never would have found a body." Garrett drains his coffee cup and walks out of the room.

I spend most of the day in my room avoiding the others, being friends with me seems to be nothing but bad luck lately. I don't even approach the idea of attending the funeral for the poor girl I hardly knew. I know I wouldn't be allowed so there was no point in asking.

I skip dinner. I read my textbooks and relax. I am surprised Garrett hasn't been up to check on me, so I start playing 'find the hidden camera' in my room. I have ripped out eight of them when there is a knock at the door.

"Guess someone noticed the technical difficulties on camera's one through eight," I chuckle to myself and put on my best 'bitch-face' and answer the door. I am stunned to see Jake, Demetri, Ben , and Alice standing there. They walk in and make themselves at home.

"Ummm hi?" I venture, wondering what is up.

"So we came by to see if you were up for a night on the town?" Alice smiles and starts looking through my closet at the various outfits that are there.

"How are we going to do that? Aren't we under house arrest?" I haven't heard anything about the restriction being lifted, but I am usually the last to know anyway.

"Simple, we sneak out." Jake is matter of fact, like it is the most everyday occurrence in the world.

"Oh sure, why not? And after that little miracle maybe I'll go punch out God." I'm sure they are having a bit of fun at my expense. I'm surprised Ben is involved though. "C'mon guys, you aren't actually serious."

"Of course we are, Bella. Do you think this is the first time we have been under house arrest? We do it all the time, and with your skill set and our know-how, this time we won't get caught." Jake is eager to get going.

"This time? How many times have you actually gotten away with this?" I have a sinking feeling I'm not going to like the answer to my question.

"Well ... that is, we've never actually made it past the front door." Ben finishes lamely.

"Perfect." I sigh and stand up. "Okay, well your first problem is you don't use the front door." They all look at me like I am explaining the secrets of the universe to them. "Seriously, none of you ever thought of that? Come on, even sluts use the back door." They look at each other sheepishly. "Where's Edward, anyway? Doesn't he usually lead you when you get these bright ideas?"

"He's off on one of his mystery excursions; no one knows where he actually goes." Ben replies.

"Alright I guess it's on me then, everyone go get dressed in dark clothes. Nothing too conspicuous; meet back here in half an hour." I look at Alice. "Pick something from my closet if you want." She squeals in delight and starts weeding through my outfits for something new to wear. She settles on a dark blouse and skirt and borrows the pendant my father has given me. I've never worn it, I favor the one that belonged to my mother and never take it off. I don't have any attachment to the one from my father.

Ben uses my sonic mapping device, which he has rebuilt and renamed the sonic shatter-wall, to break all the windows in the front of the house. Once the guards all run investigate, I manage to sneak everyone out through the garage.

Once in the garage we pile in Demetri's SUV. A quick hotwire job (Garrett had confiscated everyone's keys) and we are off.

We cruise for about fifteen minutes before we hit the main strip in New Haven where all the college kids go when there is nothing else to do. I realize I am going to have a hard time getting into any of these places since I am vastly under-age.

"Do not worry Bella, I will have your ass!" Demetri says sincerely. When I look at him strangely Jake whispers in his ear. "I mean _back_… Demetri has your back!" he blushes at his mistake.

We make it into a club with the charming name of 'Toad's Place' which is apparently a landmark in New Haven. I don't know how Demetri got us in, but we are not bothered for ID or a cover charge. After a few hours of dancing and hanging out (and more than a few rounds of drinks) I am happy I chose to join them.

"Where's Alice? I ask Jake, who is busy doing shots of something called Kettle One with Demetri.

"Dancing with that guy she was chatting up earlier." Jake doesn't seem bothered and I don't want to point out the hypocrisy of her being allowed to flirt when I am scolded for having a friend.

"I don't see her." Ben sounds concerned; he has refused all drinks and says he will drive on the way home.

"Maybe he has got her ass!" Demetri laughs at his own joke and I roll my eyes.

"I'll call her phone, hang on." I pull out the phone that Garrett had returned to me. I call her phone and she picks up on the second ring.

"Help me! I'm in trouble he's got…" the line goes dead.

I waste no time springing into action. "Guys! Alice is in trouble. We have to find her. I'll check the bathrooms, Demetri, Jake, check outside. Ben , get the car and call Garrett" I get up and run toward the restrooms, not looking back to see if my commands are being followed.

I poke my head in the men's room; no sign of her. I look in the ladies room and see a window is broken and one of Alice's shoes is on the floor. I climb through the window and hear the sound of a struggle in the dark alley I have just dropped into.

"Hey!" I yell, trying to distract who, I assume is her abductor. "You picked the wrong girl buddy." He stops and faces me. I see Alice lying on the ground, as my eyes adjust to the dim lighting. I can see she isn't conscious.

The man looks around, I'm guessing he's trying to assess his ability to deal with me quickly and quietly. I imagine his brain is determining which reflex, fight or flight he is going to follow. I guess I don't cut a very imposing frame in the darkness as he opts for fight and charges me.

_Never interrupt your opponent when he is about to make a_ _mistake._ Eleazar's words echo in my brain. Napoleon said it first; but I had heard it from Eleazar, who had taught me the true meaning of the phrase.

I kick one of my dark shoes at his face and the other at his feet; he slaps the high one away as he stumbles over the other in the dark. I go low and punch straight out into his groin, I miss my mark but hit a nerve cluster in his inner thigh. He grunts in pain.

My assailant swings around unsteadily and I see the flash of something in the darkness. I keep moving to make myself a harder target to hit like Eleazar had taught me. I start yelling for help, I just have to survive long enough for someone to investigate the noise. I yell 'Fire!' like I have been taught. People always come to watch a fire, not so much for a murder.

"Shut up bitch!" my attacker hisses as he slashes at me with the object in his hand. I see it is a six inch knife and he handles it like he knows what he is doing.

I see over his shoulder the silhouette of two men coming down the alley and relax. "Time's up asshole. Drop the knife and you might live to explain yourself." I hear a small _pop_ and he drops at my feet. I see something fall out of his pocket and pick it up. It's a black and white photo of my pendant. The one I am wearing now, the twin of which Alice is wearing.

"Bella!" Edward runs up to me with a small pistol equipped with a long silencer that is still smoking. "Are you hurt? Let's get you out of here!" He turns and leads me to a waiting car.

"Edward!" Garrett is examining the body of my assailant. "You didn't have to kill him, we trained you better than that!" He stands up. "We can't get answers from a corpse."

"Lucky shot, or unlucky for him, anyway." Edward shrugs it off.

"What the hell are you doing sneaking out with them? I expect better from you, Edward!" Garrett is really pissed and Edward is just taking it, even though he had nothing to do with our unscheduled exodus from the house.

"Wait, is Alice okay?" I see someone carrying her limp form to the car.

"She's fine, just drugged." Garrett is not in the mood for delays. "Bella, in the car, now!"

I get in the car and we take off back to the house. Garrett directs his security team to get us inside and secure. He then issues orders for a doctor to come to look at Alice.

Once I am inside and things have calmed down a little, Garrett walks into my room. I'm ready for a lecture from him but it doesn't come. Instead he stands there; then my father walks in.

"Dad…" I begin, not sure what I'm going to say next.

"Don't say anything, just listen. I expect a certain amount of mischief and nonsense from you kids. After all, I was young once. I thought you were smarter than this Bella, but today I am very disappointed in you." He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Charles…" Garrett begins, looking uncomfortable. I don't want his help.

"And where were you?" My father wheels around and stares Garrett dead in the face. "I trust you with the most precious thing in my life and you drop the ball?" he shakes his head.

"Sorry Mr. Swan. It won't happen again." Garrett is seething but keeps his temper in check.

"Dad, stop it! This is not Garrett's fault. If you are done with the lecture I have something important to show you!" I pull the picture out of my pocket. "The guy that tried to grab Alice was carrying this. Look familiar?" I pull the pendant out from under my shirt and show it to him.

"Wait, what?" he grabs the picture out of my hand. "Why did he grab Alice then?" he wonders aloud.

"Um, well I loaned her the pendant that you gave me. Since the photo is black and white he wouldn't have known the color of the gem." I see his face fall a little when I tell him I loaned out the first gift he had given me.

"I see, well then that confirms it. You were the likely target." My father hands Garrett the picture. "You know what to do. No more screwing around chasing ghosts in the islands until we find out who is behind this." He turns to me. "As for you, no more sneaking out! I mean it." He turns and stalks out of the room, I hear him barking orders at people as he goes down the hall.

I look up a Garrett and see him staring at me. "Sorry Garrett, I just wanted to… I don't know, fit in?"

Garrett relaxes a little. "Don't worry about it kid. By the way, you handled yourself pretty good out there." He grins at me, "Eleazar will laugh when I tell him about the shoes."

"You saw that huh?' I'm a little embarrassed. "I didn't know what else to do"

"Well it worked, better lucky than good I guess." He walks out the door. "Get some sleep kid, you're safe here. I won't let anyone hurt you."

I want to believe him; but I suspect whoever is gunning for me is just as dedicated to getting to me, as Garrett is to protecting me. I don't want to find out whose resolve is greater.

"Garrett?" I stop him from leaving.

He sighs and turns around. "Yeah kid?"

"Can you have them put the cameras back in?" I ask quietly.

"Way ahead of you kid … You'd never find them all anyway." He smiles and leaves.

I feel better knowing he is watching over me and I am able to sleep.

_***AN*  
**_

******Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winners on TLS!**

**********I am also now on wordpress. Due to the number of fics being pulled from FFN I have decided to protect my work by putting it on Wordpress to protect the continuity (link is rjjking. wordpress. com [remove spaces]) Info can be found my FFN profile.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 16**

I wake up the next morning refreshed, but my body aches. I guess this is what professional fighters refer to as "the morning after", where everything hurts after the adrenaline has worn off. Eleazar warned me about it, but the reality is much different than the textbook explanation.

I see a bottle of over the counter painkillers and a glass of water next to the bed. _Good old Garrett. _I swallow two and down half the water. I'm starting to think the drinking I did last night might have something to do with the pain I am experiencing.

I stumble downstairs after getting myself somewhat together and make my way to the breakfast nook. Garrett is there with a newspaper and a cup of coffee. Edward is digging in the fridge for something. I freeze at the doorway.

"All I'm wondering is how you managed to 'accidentally' shoot him in the one place you were guaranteed to kill him. I would have had a hard time making that shot. You had a number of other options that would have dropped him where he would be alive and we could have questioned him. Help me understand what happened." Garrett is not letting the murder of Alice's assailant go. I wonder if Edward has explained how it was he happened to even be there.

"Give me a break Garrett; he had something in his hand. I went for the paralyze shot but he twisted at the last minute when he fell over the shoe she kicked at him." Edward found what he was looking for and popped his head out from behind the refrigerator door. Spotting me in the doorway, he stops short, "Oh, hey Bella…"

Garrett looks over at me and frowns. "How's the hangover kid?" He nods toward Edward. "Edward make yourself useful and mix up a hangover cure."

"Hair of the dog?" Edward asks Garrett, and then lifts his hands up in surrender when Garrett gives him a look. "Just kidding, vegetable juice it is." He mixes some concoction together and adds a celery stalk. "Drink this, it'll help." He offers me the glass.

I sit down and drain half of it. "Is anyone going to tell me what all that was about last night?" I look at Edward. "Where the hell did you even come from?" I want answers and I'm done covering for Edward's little omissions.

"What do you mean 'where did he come from?' He was with you … wasn't he?" Garrett is looking at Edward. "Boy, you had better start talking right now before I take you outside and beat the truth and the piss out of you, in that order."

"What? I was in the area and I heard the commotion. I recognized the car, and when I heard Bella's voice yelling at the guy who grabbed Alice, I went to help. I ran into Garrett in the alley, shot the guy, and you know the rest." Edward is being too nonchalant for my liking about how he just 'happened' to be there. Garrett is not buying it either.

"You just happened to 'be in the area' huh? Both of you just happened to break out of my secure location, happened to steal a car, and elude your protectors. Then you just happened to drive to the same bar, in the same town, and be in the same alleyway, just in time to save Alice?" He sits his coffee cup down. "Wow, creative storytelling is not really your strong suit is it?" He walks over and gets in Edward's face. "Try again."

"Look, I told you what happened and … Hey back up off me man!" Edward makes the mistake of pushing Garrett backwards. He has about half a second to regret his decision before he is slammed face down on the kitchen counter, the offending arm hyperextended in three places behind him.

"Now I'm not asking. You will start talking now or this arm will be … relocated." He applies pressure on Edward's wrist and I hear his elbow pop slightly. I watch this in silence, amazed at the speed with which this has escalated.

"Alright, alright! I followed them, okay?" Edward knew when he was in a no-win situation at least. He gasps in pain as Garrett applies a little more pressure before releasing his arm.

"Okay, start talking. Why did you follow them?" Garrett sits back down and picks up his coffee cup like nothing had happened.

"I knew we were in lockdown for a good reason, so I followed them when I realized they might actually get out this time." Edward shrugs. "They never even knew I was there."

"I see …" Garrett finishes his coffee, "Next time, just say so, it will save us the unpleasantness." Garrett gets up and walks out of the room.

"Edward, what the hell?" I yell once Garrett is gone. "Are you crazy? You could have just come with us you know." I'm furious with him for putting me in this position.

"What? Don't flatter yourself Bella, I was concerned for the rest of them, I don't even fucking know you." Edward walks to the door. "Why do you think they were never able to escape before? I never let them; I knew they would get into trouble. Then you come along and … well, you know what you did." He leaves me there alone with my thoughts.

I run to my room, I can't believe that I am surrounded by people who have secrets within their secrets. I can't trust anyone, not even Garrett.

Once inside the perceived safety of my room, I slam and lock the door. I notice a metal box on my bed. It's longer than a shoebox but otherwise about the same dimensions. I see the numbers '1128' etched on the top and sides. A key is taped to the top with a note. I open the note and it simply reads "Found it, Garrett".

I recognize the key. The last time I had seen it was when Garrett was tossing it on my kitchen table saying it wasn't needed for our journey. It was the key my mother's lawyer had given me to her safety deposit box, but no one knew where the box was housed. It seems Garrett had found it and brought it to me.

I unlock the box and after a few tries, manage to pry the lid open. A little rust falls off the hinges indicating to me that the box had not been opened in a long time. _Garrett never opened it_, I think to myself before looking inside.

Inside is a manila envelope, the discoloration indicating it is very old. I pick it up and turn it over in my hand. There is a date written on the front of it 'November 28th, 1998'.

"1128," I whisper, double checking the box number with the date; I don't believe in coincidences anymore. I open the envelope and there are two documents inside. One is a list of names; I recognize some of them as current members of The Gentlemen. Is this a member list from 1998? I scan the list; all the names are familiar with a few exceptions. Someone named James Witherdale, who is listed as the former head of the Blue Collar faction, has a star next to his name.

One name catches my eye. Seth Young, the name has a star next to it as well, and the bottom of the list indicates the star is a signifier that the member was "terminated during the insurrection crisis".

"What the hell does that mean?" I flip to the other document which is a file on the 'insurrection crisis', and skim over it. It details an attempted coup within The Gentlemen by James Witherdale. It seems Seth Young joined James in his attempt to seize power. He was killed in a firefight inside the Boardroom where I had been inducted into the organization.

The person credited with the kill was one Garrett Parrott. _Parrott? _He is listed as the personal bodyguard to one Charles Swan. It explains the tension between the Young's and Garrett. James Witherdale was killed too; the person credited with that kill was a traitor within his own ranks; Rosalie Hale, or Rose as I know her.

Garrett clears his throat from the doorway, I hadn't heard him come in. "Find anything interesting?" he asks me.

"All kinds of things, Mr. Parrott …" I tease him. His face falls, he is not amused.

"I hate that name. First off, it rhymes with my first name, who does that to a kid?. Second of all, it sounds like a wussy name." He is not at all pleased that the secret of his last name is out.

"Don't worry Garrett; your secret is safe with me. No wonder you are so tough though, growing up with a name like that." I am trying to suppress a grin.

"Personally, I always wanted a tougher sounding name." Garrett walks over to me and sits down on the end of the bed.

"Like what?" I can only imagine the tough sounding names that he has in mind.

"Domingo Flamingo." Garrett cracks a grin.

I laugh.

"Seriously though, what is all this stuff about? Insurrection? You killed one of the Young's?" I show him the papers.

"Yes, Emily's oldest son Seth, he joined up with Witherdale's 'new management' ideals and tried to recruit your father. When Charles refused Seth tried to kill him, I … intervened."  
Garrett has a level of sadness in his voice.

"So that's why Alice and Emily don't get along with you?" I already knew the answer to this. I have gotten a few very large pieces of the puzzle and the big picture is becoming clear.

"Yes, it's no big secret. The Board cleared me of any wrongdoing; Emily wasn't allowed to vote due to her closeness to the situation. The vote clearing me was unanimous, save one." Garrett doesn't look thrilled to be sharing all this.

"Let me guess, Esme ?" I ask. Garrett nods.

"She said that the group could not sanction an in-house killing of another member without prior approval no matter what the circumstances. It was a smoke screen though, she was making a statement." Garrett gets up. "That happens a lot around here."

"So, what about the rest of this stuff?" I gesture to the papers on the bed. "Why did my mother even have all this anyway?"

"I don't know kid; you might want to discuss that one with your father." He looks at his watch. "I've got to go but I can get him a message to come by later if you want." He moves toward the door as he speaks.

"Yeah, sure …" I'm not sure how mad he still is at me.

"Okay, see you later kid. By the way, I'd keep this to myself if I were you." He gestures to the papers.

"Oh course." I put all the papers away in the box and lock it. I hand it to Garrett but pocket the key. "Do you have a safe place for this?"

"Of course." Garrett takes the box and walks out. "Don't hide up here all day kid, people will start to talk." Then he is gone.

I wait for the hangover cure to kick in before wandering out of my room. We are still on lockdown so it is as good a time as any to explore the mansion.

I explore a few rooms before I get curious about the boys side of the house. I quietly wander toward their side. It is very similar to my side of the house, it's just decorated differently. The wing is abandoned, or so it seems. I hear a commotion coming from one of the bedrooms. I creep down the hall to investigate, and see one of the bedroom doors open a crack. I peek inside and stifle a gasp.

Demetri is lying naked on the bed and a beautiful woman is giving him what could only be described as the most enthusiastic blowjob I have ever seen (not that I was an expert.)

She has long brown hair with red highlights, and enormous breasts for such a small frame. Her nipples are both pierced and have little charms with Celtic symbols on them; they jingle as she continues to bob her head up and down on Demetri's penis. An elaborate tattoo of vines snakes around her waist and up her back as well as between her legs. It is amazing to look at, she is beautiful.

I am quite taken with the sight of Demetri lying on the bed being serviced by this woman. As her lips travel the length of his shaft I am impressed at the sheer size of it. I'm no expert but it looks pretty big to me, its girth stands out in sharp contrast to his lean, yet well-muscled frame.

I watch, mesmerized by this woman performing the most erotic of acts on Demetri. He is pushing her head down, urging her to take all of him, she eagerly complies. Demetri is moaning as he erupts in her mouth, I gasp and instantly feel moistness between my legs as I watch her swallow all he gave her. But she isn't finished yet, looking up she catches my eye at the doorway.

She smiles and winks at me and then straddles Demetri, facing away from him while looking directly at me.

Lowering herself slowly onto Demetri's hard cock, she starts grinding her hips; slowly at first, then faster. She is playing with her fantastic nipples. Pulling and twisting the charms as she takes her pleasure, my own hand moves to my moistness and I began to rub it slowly as I take in the sight before me.

It isn't long before I can see she is about to climax. She is moaning and panting as she picks up her pace and starts slamming harder into Demetri, she is taking what she wants; she is in charge. There is no love here; this is pure animal lust and I begin to understand the difference between making love and fucking. This was the latter, and I enjoyed watching it.

I realize she was talking to him, but also performing for me. It was shocking to hear the things that came out of her mouth; but arousing as well.

"Do you like it? Do you like my tight pussy on your big cock? Mmmmmm, it's so big. Fuck me, fuck your little whore …" She is enjoying my presence as much as I am transfixed with the show she is putting on for me.

"Bella! What are you doing?" I hear Alice whisper from down the hallway. I snatch my hand away from between my legs and turn to see her standing there. _Dammit, how long has she been there?_

"Nothing, just exploring." I hear the muffled cry of Demetri as he has another orgasm. I suspect he is pumping her full of his seed, and I'm disappointed to have missed the big finish.

"Don't go down there, Demetri is probably fucking Shenani, those two are always going at it." Alice walks away and I breathe a sigh of relief.

I hear the door open behind me and freeze. I hear the familiar jingle of the charms and come face to face with the woman whose privacy I had just invaded.

"Ummm, hi," I say awkwardly.

"Hi yourself." She is still naked and I can see large globs of semen on her breasts and stomach. I can't help but stare. "I know right?" She laughs as she sees me staring. "He loves to cum on my tits, I suppose it's the least I can do for access to that fat cock." Her hazel eyes twinkle. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Um, sure. That is, I was just …" I trail off when she laughs.

"You must be Bella. Don't worry sweetie, I like to be watched." She extends her hand. "I'm Shenani Whatagans."

I shake her hand, _what a fantastic name, it suits her perfectly. _"Nice to meet you." I'm not sure how else to respond.

"Well I'm headed to the shower, care to join me?" She isn't teasing I can tell.

"Thanks, but I think Alice is looking for me." I retreat down the hallway.

"Okay, some other time then." I hear her musical voice carry down the hall.

That evening I meet with my father. We play our customary game of chess which ends in a stalemate. I am disappointed that there is not a winner, I don't mind losing to a superior opponent but a tie feels like a waste of time.

"So Garrett told me you wanted to talk to me?" My father is still not happy with last night's escapades, but he hasn't mentioned it and I wasn't about to bring it up.

"Yes, I don't know how much he told you but Mom left a safety deposit box behind when she died, it had some very interesting documents inside." I don't think Garrett had told him anything but, just looking at him I can't be sure.

"I know Bella, it was actually my box. I gave her the key for safekeeping and instructions in case something happened to me. It was supposed to be an insurance policy of sorts." He was edgy, like this is a taboo subject. "How much did Garrett tell you?"

"Why don't you just tell me? What happened?" I am learning to not volunteer information and my father smiles his approval at my response.

"It's not so much a secret as it is a subject no one really talks about. A man named James Witherdale, who was head of the Blue collars back when this happened; decided he wanted to become the head of the Board. He had support, but not among the higher-ups, and made a power grab. Unfortunately, Emily Young's son Seth got caught up in it and regrettably left Garrett no choice when it came to dealing with him." My father has the same sad look that Garrett did when he had told me the same thing. "It was a bad time for all of us."

"And James Witherdale?" I knew the answer but I wanted to hear the whole story.

"A Red Collar trainee, who was in a relationship with him at the time, betrayed and murdered him soon after as he slept. For performing this service, all of her crimes against the organization were forgiven, and she was allowed to retain her membership within The Gentlemen. You have met her I believe, Rosalie Hale?" My father studied my face as I reddened a little at the mention of Rose's name.

"Rose, yes I know her," I reply.

"Rose? She has a much different nickname among the Board members." My father sounds bitter.

"Oh? What would that be?"

"Šárka. According to Czech legend, Šárka was a maiden who joined other women in declaring war upon men. She tricked the men by having herself tied to a tree, and, after they came to her rescue, she would service them and offer them mead laced with a sleeping potion. After the men fell asleep the other women would slay them." My father leans back in his chair. "We accept her presence, but no one who was here during those times trusts her. That's why it bothers us that Esme has placed her so high among the Reds, be careful of her Bella." My father stands up. "I hope I have helped you understand somewhat; now if you'll excuse me, I have a flight to catch." He kisses my forehead and leaves the room, leaving me to consider his words.

No wonder Rose had befriended me; no one else would give her the time of day. I feel bad for her and strangely want to see her and let her know she had at least one friend. On the other hand, I have the nagging feeling that there is also the possibility that she is exploiting the fact that I am new and not tainted with the knowledge of the past. I want to believe what we shared was real but I can't get rid of the doubt I now feel. I sigh.

Nothing is ever easy anymore.

_***AN*  
**_

******Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winners on TLS!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence and sexual situations which may be upsetting to some readers. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related, I don't own the rights to Victoria's Secret (But I admire their work) I don't own the rights to The Art of War (Though I recommend it).  
**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 17**

I never thought that the next few months events would have me end up in the mall with Alice and Shenani. I'm refereeing an argument between them, where to go first, Victoria's Secret or the new bookstore.

"C'mon Alice, I bet we can find something sexy for you to wear for Jake… It's the gift that keeps on giving after all," says Shenani with a laugh.

"Well, I prefer to give him a book; we do have conversations you know…" Alice is not amused. We never talk about her relationship with Jake, we all know about it, but for some reason it's a taboo subject.

I let my mind wander while they battle it out. I remember when we came off of lockdown and I settled into a routine that consisted of school and training. The Gentlemen sent our instructors to the house to continue our training. I saw Rose once a week and attended sessions with Shenani who had become a semi-permanent fixture in the house.

I had developed a unique relationship with each of the others. Ben and I played chess and talked Sci-fi. With Jake it was fighting styles and occasionally a word or two about Alice. He wanted to talk me into letting him do another tattoo but was unsuccessful so far. Demetri and I talked weapons, existing and theoretical. I had a hard time looking at him after that day I saw him with Shenani, I couldn't stop picturing how he looked naked.

Alice and I talked White Collar theory and literature. I tried hinting on the topic of her brother once but she stonewalled me with a sharp look; as if trying to decide how much I knew. Shenani and I were probably the closest, she had never once told on me for spying, and I valued that. She was fun loving and enjoyed teasing the others as much as I did. She had a quiet confidence about her though that I sought to emulate in my Red Collar training.

Training with Rose had become routine, and I was no longer feeling the attachment to her that I did those first days. She tried every once and awhile to be inviting and to make sure I knew she was open to more than a simple friendship. I played dumb like I wasn't picking up on the signals, even though the only way she could have been clearer would be to show up naked with a sign that said 'Do Me!'

Edward had been his usual mysterious self. Disappearing for days on end, showing up for random training sessions, usually Blue Collar, and dominating all of us. He never had any words for us that weren't derisive or designed to show his superiority over the rest of us. I basically tried to ignore him, but I got my digs in whenever I could.

"Listen, if you want to let him use you like a whore be my guest, but that isn't me." Alice's voice shook me out of my recollections.

"A whore? It's not like he pays me." Shenani is starting to get annoyed; the musical twinge has left her voice. I need to intercede before things get ugly.

"Listen, we can do both. Shenani, you need to try stuff on, you know how hard it is for you to find something you like. Why don't I go to the bookstore with Alice, and meet you at Victoria's Secret after?" I see her skeptical look and decide to sweeten the deal.

"I'll even help you take pictures with your camera phone to send to Demetri…"

"Oooooh, goody." Shenani claps her hands. "I love doing that, he always sends me a picture of the effect it has on that lovely cock of his."

"You do know that all our messages are monitored; somewhere, some analyst is seeing those." Alice is mortified.

"I know… I get requests from them sometimes, they especially like my tits." Shenani loves getting Alice flustered.

I go with Alice before things degenerate any further and help her shop for a book for Jake. She settles on 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu. It has been adapted from its original text to be easier to read. Making it so today's executives can have it in their offices, bragging to their friends that they read it and are using it in their everyday business. The actual literal translation of the ancient Japanese text would be much more complex.

After Alice selects the book that Jake will never read, I go to meet Shenani. I find her in the dressing room with half the inventory of the store… the half that is see-through and will allow her to be penetrated by Demetri without having to remove it. I help her take a few pictures for Demetri and he reciprocates by sending a video of his enormous penis. Shenani shows it to me and laughs.

"You know, if you ever want to join me with him I'm more than happy to share." Shenani is a good friend and I appreciate the offer, but the thought of that enormous member driving into me makes me cringe.

"Thanks, but I think he'd split me in half with that thing." I wave her off, keeping my inexperience to myself. I haven't told her that I'm a virgin, but I don't count on there being any secrets within the organization.

We meet back up with Alice, who looks disdainfully at the number of bags of lingerie Shenani is carrying. "Did you get the wholesaler discount?" she asks.

"Frequent flyer miles actually, my pussy racks up a lot of them," Shenani fires back. "Besides… being such a whore, it's all tax deductible as a business expense." She has pretty much reached her limit with Alice and I can't say I blame her.

"Guys can we just go home and get ready for Christmas dinner? All our parents are coming and Garrett and God knows who else." They both agree to call a truce and we head back to the house.

.

.

.

Christmas break from school had started a few days ago and we had planned on decorating the house. We got a tree which Jake knocked over catching a football (don't ask). Our stockings were still in place but Shenani had hung a black silk thigh high stocking with a large dildo and handcuffs inside. When we asked about it she laughed and said if Santa actually came she was going to have to be prepared to let him 'cum down her chimney' if she was going to get any presents. Even our "elf on the shelf" had been misappropriated by Ben for a rocket experiment, though he insisted that there was an 89% chance that Jingles made it to the International Space Station.

"Guys, can we at least try and have a traditional Christmas dinner?" I ask them all, afraid of what their response will be.

"Traditional? What's that?" Edward is being his usual annoying self. "The Christmas tree inside and the lights outside is likely the product of a drunken night on the town…." He does his best drunk impression. "Dad comes home all drunk dragging a tree inside, _Okay kidsh we're going to put the tree inshide and decorate it, and then take all the lights and put them outshide… _mom's in the corner crying and telling the kids it'll be okay…" He continues his little monologue before I cut him off.

"Okay, maybe not a traditional Cullen Christmas…" He makes a face at me. "I just mean something for each of us that we remember from our childhood about Christmas." I knew I was reaching and I looked to Shenani to back me up.

"Well, I know we always did rum and eggnog." Shenani was trying to help. "It was the one time a year we were allowed to drink when we were kids… I found out later that it was just rum extract that my mother used, but I always thought I was quite the little grown up when I drank it."

"With us it was the meal." Jake was getting into the spirit of the conversation. "We had so much food; we even had a fruit and nut course." He smiled at the memory.

"We always did elaborate light displays," Ben offered shyly. "People used to drive by our house just to see the displays my dad would put together."

"We would read a special book before going to bed and waiting for Santa. It was called Jolly Old Santa Claus; Seth would turn the pages and I would point out the parts of the story that were in the pictures…." She trails off at the mention of Seth.

"We would have a big neighborhood snowball fight Christmas Eve," Demetri offered to fill the silence. "We spent all day making forts and making snowballs and then when sun went down the battle would commence." He smiles in remembrance. "My block was champion many years in a row."

"Trust Russians to have a battle scheduled for Christmas Eve." Edward chuckles.

"Well Bella, it seems you have your traditional blueprint, have fun with that." He turns and walks out of the room.

"Edward wait, what about you?" I might not especially like the guy but I'm not about to willfully exclude him.

"Me? I didn't celebrate Christmas in the _traditional _sense. My family is dedicated to this organization twenty-four seven, I wouldn't expect you to understand that though." He regards me with a deadpan look.

"Then that is your tradition, training and commitment. It's unorthodox but I'll make it work." I smile at him, it's Christmas, and we could call a truce for now.

"Sure whatever, do what you want," he replied noncommittally, and then he is gone.

"Where the hell does he even go all the time?" I asked the group. They all shrugged; it was Edward, this was his approximation of normal.

I looked at all of them for answers, finding none I shrugged. "Screw it, we have a party to plan. Everyone is in charge of recreating and sharing their tradition. I'll take care of mine and Edward's." I survey the troops and realize I am essentially ordering them to celebrate Christmas. "Is everyone okay with that?" I finished lamely.

They were … It's going to be Christmas in this house if it kills us.

Those thoughts would later come back to haunt me.

.

Later in the evening we all share something special. While skeptical at first, all of the others put forth a great effort recreating their individual family traditions. After all of our guests arrive, our parents, Garrett and even Rose shows up. We have a full Black-style Christmas dinner, complete with a fruit and nut course.

We then go outside where Ben unveils a light display that, if Jingles was on the International Space Station, I am fairly certain he would be able to see it from there. He has even rigged some pyrotechnics that may have been responsible for the flaming Santa Claus dragging eight plastic reindeer off the roof.

We then break into teams and have a Russian style snowball fight. I'm not sure how it is scored in Russia, but I am happy letting Demetri retain his title of snowball champion. Edward returns just in time for the rum and eggnog. Garrett makes a point of excusing himself while the Youngs bring out the Christmas book. We listen to the story and relive their tradition, while they remember a time when their family was whole.

Then it is my turn. I tell them how my mother would always let us open one gift on Christmas Eve. We all take turns opening gifts, nothing spectacular. I got Garrett the newest installment in his favorite video game series. Shenani gave Demetri one of the Victoria's Secret bags and told him with a wink that he could unwrap her later.

I open a gift from my father and see a set of keys. I look at him quizzically and he laughs saying, he's gotten me a car. I tell him I don't have a license and points at the box in my hand. Inside is a Connecticut driver's license, I'm not surprised. "I don't know how to drive very well." I tell him. Garrett assures me he will see to it that I learn.

After everyone else has opened a gift it is time for the grand finale. I walk over to the table and pull out some spiral notebooks and pens and pass them out. Everyone looks confused but I tell them to be patient and all will be revealed shortly.

"So the Cullen family has a proud tradition of serving our fine organization without pause, and without resting from their duties, even for a holiday. To honor their dedication I want all of us to learn something from another faction. Everyone please pair off into groups with someone who is in a different faction than yourself. Teach your partner something and learn something from them." I look at the Cullen's, Edward is smiling, his father Carlisle looked confused and Esme looked furious. _Furious? What's her problem now?_

"Bella?" Carlisle began slowly. "I'm a little bit at a loss here…"

"What he means," interjects Esme, "is what in the hell would make you think that we would want to deal with work for the organization? Especially on the one day a year that we _as a family _have agreed to not to even discuss the organization!" I look at Edward who is smirking in the corner.

I had been played.

"I-I'm sorry, I just thought, I mean, I intended for this to be…" I am stammering like an idiot.

"Bella, it's fine, it's just that we like to unplug from this life once a year." Carlisle is trying hard to be gracious.

"I guess there is always next year." Esme drains her glass of wine and glares at me.

"Esme, she didn't know. It's the thought that counts after all." Rose tries to smooth things over for me.

"Don't start with me! You are only here because no one else will have you." Esme hissed venomously at Rose.

"Thank-you Bella for a lovely evening, please excuse me." Rose stands and retreats from the room.

"I think I'd better go too, I need some air." I don't wait for a response before I walk out of the room after Rose.

I find her in the foyer putting on her jacket. "Rose don't listen to her. I want you here." I hug her, "I'm glad you came, Merry Christmas."

Rose's tough exterior crumbles as I break the embrace and I see tears in her eyes. "Thank you Bella, you are a very rare person, has anyone ever told you that?"

"No, not really." I blush a little and smile.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not going back in there." Rose nods toward the room we had both just come from.

"Got any bright ideas?" I ask.

"Well you have some keys and a snazzy new ride… I'd say your escape plan speaks for itself." Rose's eyes sparkle mischievously.

"What about security?" I figure my last escape trick won't work a second time.

"I'll run interference; I think I deserve a present after that little display in there."

She unbuttons her top two buttons and adjusts her breasts until they are almost spilling out. "That should do it. Go down the hill a couple miles and meet me at the little bar and grill."

"Okay, see you in a bit." I grab my jacket as she slips out the door. I make my way outside and spot the silver sports car in the driveway that chirps as I hit the unlock button on the key. I settle behind the wheel and familiarize myself with the dashboard. I find the headlights and gearshift, I adjust the seat and mirrors and then I'm off. Rose has done a good job; there are no guards in sight.

I cruise down the winding road and am thankful for the absence of any other traffic. The car handles beautifully and it takes me no time at all to get used to the accelerator. I make it a couple of miles down the road and as I round a familiar bend I see a car stopped in the middle of the road. I roll to a stop and put my car in park. "What now?" I whisper as two men get out of the car and face me.

One is tall with short brown hair, and very muscular. What stands out is he is wearing an open fur coat with a dark tank top underneath it. I keep thinking it is strange attire for this weather. The other man is smaller with longer hair and is wearing a full length black trench coat over a dark suit. They are obviously Garrett's men though I have never seen them before. The man in the trench coat approaches the car door.

"Ms. Swan?" He smiles, revealing perfect teeth. "Please turn off the car and step out for a moment."

Sighing I shut off the car; I get out and stand facing him. He is about my height but I know instinctively that this is a dangerous man. "Can I help you Mr….?"

"Whitlock, Jasper Whitlock. My brother Emmett and I would like you to come with us please." He smiles again.

"Did Garrett send you?" I am not in the mood. "I'm getting really tired of this. Look, I'm meeting someone down the hill and I will be back after a while. Go tell Garrett if he wants me to come back, he can come and get me himself…" My head reels to the side with the force of the slap that I never see coming. I taste blood on my lips, something is not right.

"Ms. Swan, I think you misunderstand. I am simply providing you the courtesy of letting you know what is going to happen here." He looks at me as I wipe the blood from my lips.

I look into his eyes and see he is serious. I am in deep trouble. "My father is going to send the toughest man on the planet to come kill you," I whisper to him, remembering what I had heard Garrett once say. "He will make you die by inches… and when death finally comes, he will come as a friend to rescue you from him." I relax my body and control my breathing the way Eleazar had taught me. _Wait for him, make him come to you. _He moves to grab my arm and I kick out, catching his kneecap square on … he goes down and I jump back in my car and lock myself in.

I start the car and tear past the larger man. I have to get to the bar down the road. Rose would be there and we could call Garrett… everything would be fine.

I was so lost in my thoughts I never even saw them. The impact of their vehicle slamming into the back of mine throws my head forward and I lose control.

I remember the feeling of the tires on the road disappearing and then the sudden impact of the front of my car merging with the tree. The airbag immediately deploys and cushions the blow, also protecting my face from the broken glass. Then everything is quiet.

_Move Bella, They're coming!_I hear Garrett's voice in my head. I open the door and try to get out of the car realizing simultaneously two things. First, my leg is injured, badly. I can barely put any weight on it. Second, I hadn't worn my seatbelt which allows me to get out of the car with minimal effort.

I make my way slowly through the snow, leaving a trail a blind man could follow. I can't even consider trying to disguise my trail; I am barely able to keep moving. I hear car doors slamming behind me and the sound of my pursuers crashing through the forest. They are in pursuit, and it is only a matter of moments.

They are going to capture me. And no one is coming to help me.

***AN***

**Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winner on TLS.  
**


	18. Chapter 18

**Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of violence and suggestive situations that may be disturbing to some readers. While I understand this may not be for all readers and I welcome all reviews, I am not interested in entertaining insults or opinions that do not pertain to the ****entire**** story. Please keep in mind that as the author I do know where I plan on taking the story and what is necessary to get me there. With that said, please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 18**

I make my way through the snow on my injured leg, frantically looking around for a place to hide. Seeing no options I turn to face my pursuers, I might be taken but they aren't taking me without a fight. I shake the bracelet off my wrist and hang it on a tree limb. _Garrett will find it._ I scratch the letters 'JW + EW' in the bark of the tree hoping that the name Jasper or Emmett Whitlock will mean something to Garrett. I steady myself as I turn to face them as they crash into the clearing I am in, it never even crosses my mind that Garrett will not find the clues I have left him. He will make them pay, I know it.

I step away from the tree where I left my clues and hold my hands up in surrender as the larger brother Emmett advances on me. I expect him to grab me and throw me over his shoulder and drag me kicking and screaming back to his car. I am completely unprepared for the level of violence that comes next. I barely have a chance to see his fist coming before it impacts the side of my face with a sickening crunch.

I go down in the snow and think briefly that if I stay down he will stop hitting me. No such luck, he kicks me in the ribs forcing the air out of my lungs. I try to scream but I can't draw a breath, the blows come faster now he is stomping me mercilessly, his heavy boots undoubtedly leaving marks and doing internal damage. His foot comes down on my injured leg and I hear a snap, now the screams come. The pain is excruciating, he has to stop soon or Garrett will have nothing to find but a bloody smear in the snow.

"That's enough Emmett!" I hear Jasper's voice bark, the blows stop and I try to catch my breath. I taste blood in my mouth and I know my leg is broken. I'm hurt bad, I know I am, how bad remains to be seen. Emmett pulls me to my feet by my hair and I notice the blood soaked snow beneath my feet where I had been laying.

"S-Stop, I'll cooperate." I stutter through swollen lips. My head is fuzzy and I can't think or focus on any of my training. I feel dizzy and I notice blood dripping off of me into the snow.

"You haven't given us any trouble yet." Jasper smiles at me again. "Hold her up Emmett … time for Miss Swan to take a little nap." I am having trouble understanding, the ground is swaying … _Why was that man's foot getting so big?_

Then everything goes dark.

.

I awake in a vehicle to a level of pain I had never even thought existed. My hands are bound and there is a hood over my head. My legs are free but a quick test tells me that they are essentially useless right now. My right leg is broken in at least two places and unless I am going to try and recreate the "One legged man in an ass-kicking contest" bit, the left will have to suffice as a minor means of locomotion.

_Relax and observe._ I hear Eleazar's voice in my head, clearing the haze I take in as much information as I can without being able to see. I get the impression I am in a van or truck, I sniff I can make out the scent of chemicals; the smell reminds me of fresh paint. I listen intently and can hear my captors talking in the cab of the vehicle.

"Damn bitch got blood all over my boots." I can hear Emmett's deep baritone as he complains. I reason that I couldn't have been out for very long. This would be something he'd be complaining about soon after dumping me in the vehicle and making good their escape.

"Well nobody told you to stomp her into the snow now did they?" Jasper's oily voice cuts his brother off. "Sometimes I wonder if you don't enjoy beating people up a little too much…"

"Too much? No such thing. Besides, you have your way of taking pleasure and I have mine… Don't judge me." Emmett laughs; it is a heartless laugh, the man is a complete psychopath.

"Whatever man, but if the boss has a problem with what you did to her, you're on your own." Jasper sighs, this is obviously not the first time they have had a discussion on this subject. I listen intently for more information as to who the mysterious 'boss' is, but they aren't talking anymore.

I try to keep track of how long we travel, turns we make and any other information that will give me a clue as to where they are taking me. I lose track after the first few minutes, my head is still fuzzy and the pain I'm in is keeping me from focusing. _Garrett will come for me_. I keep telling myself _I just have to stay alive long enough for him to find me._

I pass in and out of consciousness … not a good sign regarding potential head trauma, I know. When I wake up again I realize we aren't moving. I hear my captors talking to someone and for some reason I feel I should know the voice. _Garrett? _My senses are playing tricks on me, if Garrett was here he would make it stop hurting. I let the darkness claim me again but the pain doesn't stop. I see flashes of images that I know can't be real.

I'm back on the boat in St. Thomas, it's raining and it's wet and cold. Newt is there asking me questions but I can't understand the words. They sound like gibberish, I try to tell him but my voice isn't working. Waves hit the boat and I fall to the deck as the water crashes over me and then I understand what Newt is screaming at me over and over again.

"Who is God?"

"I don't understand!" I try to tell him, but the waves crash over me again and I am swept away by the storm. I am swallowed by the sea and everything goes dark again.

I wake up on the cold stone floor of the Red Collar wing of the Compound. Rose is leaning over me smiling. "Are you ok, Bella?" she asks in her friendly voice. "You had better get up, you're going to be late."

"For what?" I ask in a croaky voice. The pain is still present but it is manageable like it is being masked somehow.

"The funeral silly, everyone is waiting." Rose helps me to my feet and starts smoothing my rumpled clothes.

"Funeral?" I whisper, "No, not again… I can't do that again. Once was enough." I back away from her.

"Bella, what's wrong? I thought you would be happy. This is what you wanted, you're free now. You showed us you can be trusted when you killed him." Rose held her hand out to me with a confused look on her face.

"I killed … who?" This can't be right. Edward killed the guy in the alley not me.

"Your father … Charles. You're free now." Rose starts laughing.

I run but the ground disappears and I am falling. Falling for what seems like forever with no one to catch me.

.

I regain consciousness in a dark room. The first thing I realize is that I am tied very securely to a chair. The next thing I notice is that I am still in excruciating pain. One of my eyes is swollen shut, my legs still feel useless and my throat is so dry it's on fire. I hear a tapping sound and notice a dark figure sitting at a table in the shadows at the back of the room.

"Who's there?" I squint into the darkness as the figure rises and steps out of the shadows. It is the larger of my two captors, Emmett Whitlock, or Em as his brother calls him. "What do you want?" I try and sound tough and hold his gaze, but I'm not sure I'm having the desired effect with only one good eye.

"Absolutely nothing." He steps closer and removes his tank top. I see an intricate series of tattoos starting at his neck and covering most of the right side of his torso and right arm. He starts taping up his hands which confuses me until I realize he is preparing to beat me again.

"Just tell me what you want and we'll talk … You don't have to hit me anymore." I had just gotten some semblance of my senses back and I'm not sure I can even survive another beating.

He laughs derisively.

"What makes you think you haven't already told us everything we wanted to know? The Gentlemen, Rose, Edward, Garrett, your father … You talk quite a bit when the pain gets motivational." He finishes taping his hands and experimentally swings a few punches into his palm with a smack that makes me wince. "Shall we begin again?"

"Wait, I don't even know what you want to know." I feel the knot of fear coil in the pit of my stomach as he advances toward me.

"I told you, nothing at all." His first punch nearly unhinges my jaw and I struggle to maintain consciousness. I am vaguely aware of someone screaming as he continues to beat me. It isn't until the sweet escape of unconsciousness starts to claim me that I realize the person screaming is me.

.

I wake up strapped to a table, I have no idea how much time has passed. I try to move but it hurts too much. I hope I'm not injured permanently, but truthfully I am thankful to have woken up at all. I see someone moving off to the side of me and flinch, waiting for the hit that doesn't come.

I gasp as a cool cloth touches my face. I look through blurry vision and see a fuzzy image of a shirtless man mopping dried blood off my face with the cloth. He is gentle and allows drops of cool water to trickle between my parched lips. I could cry at his kindness, then I see the tattoos covering the left side of his torso and arm and gasp. It's him, but it isn't him. As my vision clears I see it is Jasper. I watch him silently, but he doesn't seem interested in hurting me … For now.

"Good, you're awake." Jasper moves to a table and brings a syringe over. "Don't panic, it's just morphine for the pain." He injects me and I feel the warmth of the drug dull the pain away within minutes.

Jasper continues moving round the room and I can't contain myself any longer. "What do you want?" I barely manage to get the words out; the water has helped but my tortured voice is far from back to normal.

"Me? Nothing at all." He continues with mundane tasks; putting things in drawers, rinsing out cloths. He then moves over to me and brushes my hair out of my face. "I do want to thank you for all your help though; I don't think we ever could have come so far so fast without it."

"My help?" I'm confused, I haven't told them anything. I've taken the beatings, the torture, I bore it all and have given them nothing. Unless… It's all a haze, did I? Could I have? I just don't know. "You're lying," I whisper. "I would never betray those I love, to you."

"Oh, I'll give you credit, it took a lot of work. Even after Emmett beat you half to death, we still had to move to a more chemical means of persuasion." He nodded towards the table. "Sodium thiopental, also known as the truth drug. Heard of it? It's a tricky substance; you need to get the dosage just right. Use too much and well, let's just say there is a reason they used it for lethal injections back in the day." He is shaking something in his hand, it was what was causing the tapping sound I heard earlier.

My eyes go to his hand and he notices. He smiles and tosses the items onto a tray by the bed I am still strapped to. I gasp as the easily recognizable items bounce and come to a stop only a few feet from my face.

_Garrett's cuff-links._

"He put up quite a fight, I personally would have preferred to recruit him but there was just no reasoning with him. Like a mad dog, he had to be put down." Jasper is smiling as he tells me this; the man is an obvious sadist.

_No!_

"And the others? Well, I think you would be surprised which ones joined and which ones had to be … retired. Obviously your father wanted nothing to do with us, but we expected that." He is loving this moment of bravado. Suddenly I notice something, the cuff-links are wrong. Garrett's are identical but his are brushed titanium; strong, unyielding suitable for forging a weapon from … like Garrett.

I laugh, it is a pitiful laugh but I laugh all the same.

Jasper's face falls and he gets a dangerous glint in his eye. "Something funny?"

"You are … You didn't kill Garrett, or anyone else. I know that, and so do you." I know I'm going to pay for this moment of defiance but I don't care.

"Oh, and how is it you know that?" Jasper is biding his time but I can see his anger is building behind his fake smile.

"For starters, you're still alive. Even if you killed him, Garrett would have never allowed you to live. I told you, my father will send him for me and make you die by inches." I hold his gaze, I know I'm right.

"Okay you win, I was bluffing. It was worth a shot. I actually wanted to avoid taking your interrogation to the next level, but have it your way." Jasper closes the door and starts dimming the lights.

"What else could you possibly do to me? I'm not going to tell you anything and there is nothing else you can take from me … "My voice trails off as I see him remove his belt and his intention becomes clear. "No…. you can't…."

I scream, but no one comes to save me.

.

I awaken after what seems like an eternity. My brain does not allow me to acknowledge what has happened to me. I'm not here; I'm back at the Compound. My father is coming to visit today and we will play chess so he can redeem himself for the last time we played and I beat him. We will laugh and talk about my mother. Garrett is downstairs trading barbs with Edward in the breakfast nook; Ben is in his room working on his gadgets. Alice and Jake are kissing in the library; they think we don't know but we all do. Demetri and Shenani are enjoying each other in a more animalistic way that is no less beautiful.

The door opens and I cower in the corner, my useless legs curl up as I try to make myself as small as possible; what fresh abuse is this? Then my eyes widen as I recognize the man that walks through.

_Newt? What is he doing here?_

"Hello Bella, remember me?" he sneers at my huddled form in the corner. He no longer looks handsome to me even though his appearance hasn't changed. His words do nothing but confirm what his presence already tells me.

"You killed her didn't you?" I whisper … It's more of a declaration than a question at this point but I find myself needing to hear him admit it.

"Of course I did, how else were we going to get your father to resurface from the hole he was hiding in? Once my employer found you it was easy to determine he was watching, but we still couldn't find him. He figured if you were alone he wouldn't abandon his daughter to the world, and he was right. I would have preferred if he had shown up to collect you himself, but once Garrett showed up it was pretty easy to tail you to him." He smiles evilly at me. "Pretty good plan, don't you think?"

"So why take me now?" I'm still trying to glean any information I can so I can help track down anyone who escapes when Garrett comes for me. "You got what you wanted."

"Not exactly, we know where he is most of the time; but we can't get to him. We need to force his hand and get the King out of his castle." Newt motions to me, "That's where you come in, you had one last role to play, but now the game is over."

"You forgot one thing, he will come for me. They all will, and none of you will be spared for what you have done. They will come in here like an unstoppable horde of savages and make you pay." I turn as I see the silhouette of a man in the doorway. I gasp at his disfigured face when he steps into the light.

"My dear, insignificant pawn," he growls at me. "I'm counting on that!"

***AN***

**Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winner on TLS.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of violence and suggestive situations that may be disturbing to some readers. While I understand this may not be for all readers and I welcome all reviews, I am not interested in entertaining insults or opinions that do not pertain to the entire story. Please keep in mind that as the author I do know where I plan on taking the story and what is necessary to get me there. With that said, please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 19**

I have no idea who this newcomer is but I can tell that he is the man in charge. I can see by the way the others defer to him that he maintains control over his group of cronies through fear and not through respect. That makes me know that as fearsome as Emmett is and as evil as Jasper is, this man is by far more dangerous.

"You seem confused." The scarred man at the door continues to address me. "Maybe I can clear some things up for you." He walks further into the room and his demeanor changes; I realize he is showing off for his subordinates. He is a true megalomaniac, and I am at his mercy.

"I'm not confused, I know exactly what you people are." I am defiant even though I must look pathetic with my swollen face from the beatings. I have no doubt all the other indignities I have been forced to endure are common knowledge among this cadre of criminals.

"Do you now?" He seems genuinely interested in hearing my theories explaining my current predicament. "Do tell me then, who am I? What is it I want from you?" He sits and motions for me to speak. "Please, enlighten us. I'm sure we would all love to bask in your obviously enlightened take on the present situation."

I narrow my eyes at this man. I know when I am being baited. "I see no reason to say anything to you," I reply acidly.

He laughs a mocking cruel laugh. "Fair enough, how about I sweeten the deal?" He moves closer to me. "If you can tell me who I am and why I am doing this I will let you go right now. I'll drop you at a hospital and you will never hear from me again. But…" He held up a finger, "No bet can be made without risk." He begins to pace the room. "If you fail to guess, then I get one question that you will answer truthfully without resistance. Do we have an agreement?"

"She'll never honor the agreement if she loses," Newt pipes up from the corner; I'd forgotten he was even there. This unknown man had a way of commanding the full attention of the room, making you forget about everyone else.

"Sure she will; she can't afford not to." He smiles like a spider would to a fly. "So far she is merely stubborn and loyal. These are qualities I would admire if they weren't standing in the way of getting me what I want. If she proves herself to be dishonest, well that ..." He locks his eyes with mine. "That is a quality I have no use for at all." His meaning is crystal clear; he's done playing games with me.

"And what assurance do I have that you will keep your word?" I am stalling for time while I reason this proposal out. The drugs, pain and disorientation are making it difficult to focus, but I try anyway.

"You wound me, Ms. Swan. Have I given you a reason not to trust me? Have I ever broken my word to you or shown myself to be untrustworthy?" He remains still, staring at me expecting an answer.

"Dishonest? I think it is a little much for me to expect you to be honest when you have already demonstrated your ability to do much worse than lie." I am grateful that I am coherent enough to maintain a conversation with this man in the state I am in.

"Fair enough, but once again, I have done nothing to you. My men have, there is no denying that, and though it may be a fine hair to split, I see that as making me the closest thing you have to a friend here." He smiles again. "Times up, Bella, do we have a deal?"

"Fine, we have a deal." I am playing for time but I figure a shot in the dark is better than no shot at all.

"Very good. Please proceed, who am I? And why am I doing this?" He sits back down and focuses himself on listening to my answer.

"Your name is Seth Young, presumed dead by the organization known as The Gentlemen. You got those scars when Garrett killed you, or so he presumed. You had my mother killed and kidnapped me to flush out my father to exact your revenge on him and the other members who thwarted your earlier attempted coup." I looked at his face, I had him even if he didn't keep his word, which I knew he wouldn't; it was worth it to see the look of shock on his face.

"That is an amazingly informed guess, too informed in fact to be a guess. Tell me how it is you came by this information." He leans forward with his fingers on his lips, unaware of his fatal mistake.

_Checkmate motherfucker!_

"My father entrusted the file, which covered the entire coup attempt to my mother within a safe deposit box. The contents of that box passed to me upon her murder." I look pointedly at Newt when addressing that topic. "It wasn't hard to figure out that this had something to do with that since the wonder twins over there can't keep their mouths shut when transporting a prisoner." I smugly look at him waiting to reveal his mistake.

"I see, well played. Wrong, but well played." He stands up. "Seth Young is dead. Garrett killed him just as your file undoubtedly reported. I saw his body and wish I could have given him the hero's burial he deserved. He was a martyr to our cause and deserved better." He stops as I start to laugh. "Is something funny?"

"I know all that, Garrett is far too thorough to have left his target alive. I know him much better than any of you, even you James." I let the name hang in the air before I recite "James Witherdale, leader of the 'New Management' faction. Born August 12th 1969, inducted into the organization April 9th 1987. Talents include advanced special reasoning, tactical analysis and leadership aptitudes. Attempted a leadership coup within the organization on November 28th 1998, the coup was a failure and you were betrayed and 'killed' by Rosalie Hale in the weeks that followed as a means of her earning her way back into the organization. Obviously she was not the perfectionist Garrett is." I smile at him through my swollen lips. "Did I forget anything?"

"If you know who I am, why would you guess wrong?" He still doesn't get it and it angers him.

"I knew a piece of shit like you would never honor the agreement, and I also knew that you were simply using this as a means of interrogation." I pause to let that sink in. "You wanted to give me an excuse to talk, guilt free, keeping my honor intact since you have taken everything else."

"But you still owe me an answer to a question, as we agreed." He licks his lips, not used to being at a disadvantage.

"True, and I will die with my honor intact since I have honored my part of the bargain." I close my eyes and wait.

"Your part? I haven't asked a question yet …" he trails off and realizes his mistake as I begin to recite.

"Tell me how it is you came by this information." I repeat his words back to him. "I answered truthfully and completely. Our bargain didn't stipulate against ulterior motivations or trickery regarding my guess." I sigh, "Not that I expect it to matter, you have no choice but to continue with your current method of questioning. I suggest you hurry since I don't imagine I will survive much more of your interrogation methods." I open my eyes and stare at him, my gaze devoid of all emotion.

James is furious, not only have I beaten him at his own game, but I have made him look like a fool and a bully in front of his men, as well as an ineffective leader. Worse yet I have done it all while doped up and suffering from a concussion. I did not expect I would survive this encounter.

He grabs Newt and yells at him. "Finish this! I either want the information I need or her dead body on the floor when I get back, or you will be the next casualty of this war." He releases Newt and turns back to me. "The next few hours will be as unpleasant as you decide they need to be."

"James?" I call after him as he reaches the door. He turns to me to catch my parting words.

"Please tell Garrett I said thank you when he comes to kill you. I sincerely hope he manages to contain his anger long enough to make your last moments … memorable."

"Fair enough." James crosses the room in four long strides and grabs my face painfully. "I will also be sure to pass along all the fun Jasper had performing his unique method of information extraction on you." He releases my face from his grip. "And that your resistance was somewhat … half-hearted." He walks out of the room without a backwards glance.

.

I wait in the room for Newt to return for a fresh round of torture. I decide that I am not going to give him the satisfaction of begging. I try to convince myself that I won't even cry out but I know my limits and I am very close to reaching them. Garrett isn't going to make it in time, even if he came through the door right now I'm not convinced I would survive.

I feel my life slipping away as my strength ebbs. I think of all the things I will never get to do again; play chess with my father, or shop with Shenani and Alice. I'd never screw up an invention with Ben or design tattoos with Jake. I'd never hear Demetri say something inadvertently funny because of his inability to speak English in any other manner than a cliché Russian villain in a trashy novel.

"Are you ready?" Newt breezes back into the room; Jasper and Emmett remain by the door, they aren't here to prevent my escape; my legs are still broken and useless to me. I realize they are there to watch, sadists. "This shouldn't take long. There is only one thing we want to know and then I promise, I'll end it quick." He grins evilly at me, "Just like with your mother."

"What did you do to her?" I whisper. I have long since come to terms with the fact that I am going to die; I want closure on this one thing before I leave this world.

"Haven't you figured it out yet? I would have thought it obvious. I rigged the tank to fail after about ten minutes. Then I kept her from surfacing until she was dead. I faked the CPR, you were so panicked that I could have been twisting her head off and you wouldn't have noticed. She never had a chance, I had hoped your father would reveal himself right away when you were all alone but I underestimated your resourcefulness. All the other curve balls we threw at you were either intercepted by your father or that troublesome lawyer.

"I still don't get the endgame plan. Let's say my father did show and you killed him. What would that get you? Someone would just take his place and you would still be no closer to getting control of The Gentlemen then you are right now. You would also lose whatever leverage you have by kidnapping me since no one would go to the lengths that he would go to in order to secure my return." I am confused since I know there has to be a play here but I'm not seeing it.

"And that brings us to the question at hand. Who is next in line if your father were to die?" Newt began pulling long needles from a box.

"I'm a little far gone for acupuncture to help don't you think?" I have an idea what he has planned but I am not completely sure.

"Oh this is a method of my own design. Acupuncture is designed to do the exact opposite of what I'm about to do." He shows me the long needle and attaches a thin filament wire to it, threading it like an oversized sewing needle. "I will insert these needles directly into various nerve bundles, what the layman would call pressure points. Then, if you continue to refuse to answer my questions, I will send electrical impulses to the needles. The pain will be excruciating and the needles will begin to heat up, searing your nerve endings shut. You won't feel the heat though if that happens, your nerve endings will be so confused and overcharged that if anything you will feel cold as you go into shock." He finishes checking his equipment and moves closer to me, painfully inserting the needles throughout my body. "Isn't the science of torture fascinating Ms. Swan? I must say I have been eager to show off my skills to you for some time now."

Once he has finished I have at least fifty needles inserted into my body, all wired into a control box. I know what is coming and I mentally prepare myself for the pain.

"Do you have anything to tell me about the highest echelon of The Gentlemen?" Newt is ready to begin and this is likely to be my last act of defiance.

"I have no idea who my father answers to… all I know is the code name." I consider every second I keep him from hitting the button to be a gift.

"Yes? What is it?" Newt was waiting for an answer.

"Harvey the rabbit… no wait, I think it might be George Jetson, possibly Fred Flintstone…" I smirk as I see his face fall, then twist in anger before he hits the button.

My body jerks violently as my nervous system reacts to the foreign electrical impulses being forced on it. The pain is excruciating but I can't scream, It only lasts a few seconds, he just wants me to know what I'm in for if I continue to be uncooperative.

"Effective isn't it?" Newt is smug now. "I got the idea from incomplete research done by Nazi scientists during World War II; they were quite creative when it came to inflicting pain with limited technology. Now, let's try this again, who is GOD?"

_GOD?_

"I have no idea what you're talking about …" I bite my tongue as the next wave of electrical shocks shoot through my body. My chest hurts and I am having trouble breathing, this is it. My body has reached its limit and is starting to shut down. I'm okay with it though, the others will be safe, I gave them nothing, I can take solace in that.

"Bella! Hang on, we're coming." I hear Edward's voice. I know it's just the electricity causing neurons to misfire in my brain causing me to hallucinate. The voices and faces change from Garrett to Newt then I smile as Alice and Shenanni are there, then I gasp in fear as Jasper and Emmett takes their place. I am on mental overload and try to shut my eyes but can't.

Images flash through my head faster and faster, I can't tell what is real and what is not. I forget my promise to myself to stay strong and I start to cry. Where is the sweet escape of death? Why did it still hurt so much?

"GARRETT…" I cry out, as his face flashes in front of my eyes. It is replaced by James's disfigured visage, I scream as the flesh melts away and a hooded skull takes his place. It is death and he has come as a friend. His face is close to mine and I can see my life draining out of me like he is inhaling my spirit. I don't panic, the pain is gone now and I trust him completely, I will be with my mother soon and be able to tell her how sorry I am. I wonder if Gracie Blue will be there, probably wandering around lost, I'll have to help her find her way I'm sure.

It is getting dark now… Death is still inhaling the last of my soul and I am almost ready to leave this life behind. My last thoughts surprise me though, I would have expected them to be of Garrett, my father or even Shenani or Alice but they aren't, I think of Edward. I remember his arrogance and confidence, his skill and bravado, I recall how he looks, moves and dresses. I feel my heartbeat slow and wonder if it will hurt when it stops.

And then there is nothing, Death claims me for his own.

_***AN***_  
**Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winners on TLS!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of sexual, violence and disturbing situations that may be upsetting to some readers. While I understand this may not be for all readers and I welcome all reviews, I am not interested in entertaining insults or opinions that do not pertain to the entire story. Please keep in mind that as the author I do know where I plan on taking the story and what is necessary to get me there. With that said, please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related.**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 20**

Stepping out the back door of the mansion the cold winter night air hits my face. I think of all the families that are celebrating Christmas together, and the memories they share with each other. I gave all that up years ago so they could live to see the holidays to come, and make memories to hold close to their hearts. I have never regretted the decision I made; giving them up was a small price to pay to know they would be safe. Sometimes though, on days like today, I allow myself to miss them.

I pull a cigar from my jacket pocket. An old habit, I only do this two or three days a year. I can hear her voice and see her wrinkle her nose at the pungent odor. "You've been smoking…" she would say and push me away when I went in to steal a kiss. Her attempts to keep me away were half-hearted; I would soon silence her objections with my lips on hers.

I think back to when I heard about my teammates families, how they had died and the indignities they had suffered before they met their end. I was sure I could protect my family until that day…

They had cornered her as she dropped the kids off at school; it was to send a message, nothing more. Something to let me know it was coming and there was nothing I could do. She was wearing one of my white shirts; she threw it on, not planning on actually being out for long. There were four of them, they told her all the things they were going to do to her, use her, discard her, and use her again. Finally, one of them flicked the end of his cigarette into his hand and ran his finger through the ashes. He smudged the ash onto the white shirt, his finger lingering over her right nipple as he did it.

"Tell him I was this close…" he hissed in her ear as she stood, paralyzed with fear. Then they were gone.

That was the first time she saw 'The Rage'.

My parents had seen it when I was young. I was a good kid, never in trouble until the day I saw three boys picking on a young girl. They had knocked her down, one of them kicked her, and I just reacted. It wasn't until the ambulance came to take the boys away that someone commented that the youngest boy was three years older than me, the oldest was my senior by six years.

After that I had let the monster out of the box, I wasn't equipped to deal with controlling it until much later in life. My military training, years of discipline and many hard learned lessons allowed me to keep it just below the surface; coiled up like a cobra waiting to be released, to strike out. I hadn't let it out to roam free since the day she showed me the smudge on the shirt, and told me what they did. That day it was different, that day I allowed it free reign, I knew what they were capable of what they had done to other families, it would not be mine… not her, not my Monica.

I found him fairly quickly in an opium den on the seedier side of town. I got him as he was walking to his car. I grabbed his throat and squeezed, pinching both carotid arteries, his dope-addled brain had seconds before it realized the blood flow was cut off and started going into rescue mode, shutting down non-vital systems in a vain attempt to sustain itself. I wanted him to know the fear he made her feel, I wanted him to suffer, but 'The Rage' had me and it had been locked away too long.

I saw the recognition in his eyes as he struggled; he was no match for me. My fingers sank into his throat and I twisted, pulling his larynx and parts of his windpipe out. His eyes bulged as he struggled to breath and began to drown in his own blood. His mouth opened in a silent scream and I stuffed the gory mess inside it, locking my eyes with his as I watched him die…

My phone beeps, shaking me out of my memories. The cigar is nearly gone and I don't even remember enjoying it scouring my lungs. I check the notification and it is of an impact on Bella's new car, I had it outfitted with GPS and sensors to alert me in case of trouble. I scan the phone, and according to the report, the car isn't even at the house anymore, it is over two miles away. I drop the cigar and run around the side of the house to check the validity of the alert. I know it is right though, technology never lies, even when you wish it would.

I run past one of the guards who is talking to Rose, I take quick stock of the situation and can tell from her half open shirt and his un-buckled belt how it was Bella had managed to slip past my security detail. I'd deal with him later. I skid to a stop in the snow where her car should have been and see the tracks leading out the gate in the snow.

She's gone…

Jumping in my own car I tear off down the road. I have to get to her, I hope it is just a stupid prank and she has run off the road. I have a lecture ready for that girl, of all the stupid… My heart sinks as I round the corner and see pieces of broken taillights and car bumper on the road.

Her tire tracks left the road and I see her car wrapped around a tree. It is bad... very bad.  
I skid to a stop and leap from my car. I almost lose my footing in the deep snow as I race down the embankment toward the crumpled wreck that was the car that less than an hour ago had been sitting in the driveway all shiny and new. The door is open and no one is in the driver's seat.

_Calm down … Look and assess the situation, what does the scene tell you?_

My training kicks in and I close my eyes and think. Portions of taillights and rear bumper on the road, the car was hit from behind, forcing her off the road. There will be pieces of whatever hit her on the road too. If it was another car, there would be tracks. I needed a team out here, now.

I quickly dial my phone. "This is Garrett, I need an Alpha Team to my location as soon as possible, bring lab rats and trackers. BUSTER!" Buster was old school military lingo for hurry, bust your ass. I lean into the car and flip open a hidden compartment. Pulling a data cable out and attaching it to my phone, I start downloading all the sensor details and camera information from the various 'aftermarket' modifications I had installed on Bella's Christmas present.

I leave my phone on the seat to finish the data dump and follow the blood trail I spot in the snow. It leads deeper into the wooded area toward a clearing, the paces were uneven and one foot dragged, indicating the blood came from a leg wound. I expected to find her in the clearing but stop when I spot the next clue.

_More tracks_

Two sets, one large, wearing heavy square toed biker style jackboots. The other, smaller, trailing behind unhurried in expensive Italian style loafers. The clearing shows a sign of a struggle, a large section of disturbed snow is soaked in blood.

_This is where they caught up to her._

The amount of blood concerns me, until I remember that against the snow it looks like more than it is. I look around for shell casings or other signs of gunplay. No shell casings are evident, no telltale smell of gunpowder or the metallic scent of spent brass. A glint of metal on a tree limb catches my eye, I move to investigate and find Bella's bracelet, she left it here for me to find. She knew they were coming for her and she was going to be taken. There has to be something else, she would have tried to give me something, a clue as to her pursuers identity or where they were taking her, I am missing it? Come on Garrett, where is it?

Frantically searching the immediate area ...There! On the tree, scratched in the bark. The letters JW and EW, good girl Bella. I turn as I hear my team start to arrive. I direct them to photograph everything, I order them to bag and document the clues I have found and then I return to the car to retrieve my phone. The progress bar indicates the download is complete. I take the phone and make my way back to my car, the drive back isn't long enough and Charles is waiting for me when I get there.

"Well?" He is anxious for news and he wants answers. I have none for him but I tell him what I know.

"She's been taken," I begin. "Two subjects, maybe more, ran her off the road and took her. Charles, she's hurt, there was a lot of blood but I think she is alive." I feel terrible, this man saved my family and I lost his child. She was my responsibility and I've failed him.

"Where the fuck were you?" Charles screams in my face. I take it; he deserves to be allowed to blame me. "I trusted you! You were supposed to keep her safe… you promised me this couldn't happen and I believed you!" He crumples to the floor, the man who never loses control, whose logic when approaching any subject is always infallible. There is no equation or algorithm that will make this alright.

"Charles, I …" I stop short, no apology is sufficient. There is no way to make this right but one. "I'll get her back, I swear to you I will, and these people will pay." I mean it; this isn't the end of it.

Charles composes himself; he squeezes my arm as I help him up and looks me in the eye. "What have you found? You've got to have something, what is it?"

"She left clues and I pulled the sensor and camera data from her car, I'll have the lab get on it right now." I leave him and go to find Ben, he is the best they have that I can trust not to fuck this up.

As I head down the hallway I see the others, Jake, Demetri, Shenani, Ben and Alice. Edward is nowhere to be seen. Shenani is crying and hugging Demetri, Jake steps forward and speaks for the group.

"What can we do?" he asks. "Whatever you need, you've got it."

"I need Ben to analyze the data from the car. Demetri, I want you working at the crash site with the tracker teams. Alice, I need a forensic analysis of the blood loss and anything this bracelet can tell you. I need to know her survival odds. I need this all in two hours… we meet back here.

They spring into action. I go to my room and start pouring through the database compiling a list of all the JW and EW known enemies of the organization and seeing what shakes out. I access the mainframe via a secure connection and start running the search, I see the record count start to grow and stop looking as it passes two hundred. I'll narrow the search once I get a working list, but for now names and known aliases will have to do.

I lay on my bed to catch some rest while the search runs. Some people might think me callous but it is a hard habit to break, I know once I have information to act on I will be going long hours without sleep and the old campaigner in me knows you grab your sleep when you can get it. But I don't sleep, I run scenarios in my head, what did I miss? My mind wanders back to the memories earlier, she could always calm me. She knew how to center my thoughts...

.

"Honey you look tense, was it really that bad?" She knows better than to ask, I can't tell her, and I wouldn't if I could. I never allow that part of my life to invade my sanctuary.

"No, it was fine. I just have to go out again, that's all." My wife Monica is my calming center. I hate leaving her but I have an oath to uphold, she knows that.

"When?" She is wearing the sundress I love; when the sun catches it I can see her form beneath it. I hunger for her when we are apart… She is the only thing I allow to occupy my mind when I'm on a mission.

"Tomorrow, 0600." I know she won't complain, she never does. Other men with lesser wives have to put up with the tears and the complaints. She knows what she signed up for, and she loves me unconditionally. My Monica is realistic, she knows who and what I am.

"Well then we'd better make the best of the time we have." She kisses me and whispers in my ear. "We have the place to ourselves tonight… I sent the kids to my parents for the night." I groan softly as her hand travels up my thigh and squeezes between my legs.

I kiss her neck and stand up removing my jacket and cuff links she gave me on our wedding night. I rollup my sleeves and turn to her. She is standing in front of the big window in our room, the sunlight is streaming through and makes her dress almost transparent. She is wearing nothing underneath it, I can see everything, the curve of her ass, the swell of her breasts capped with large dark nipples. She was made for me, and she is mine.

"I love you Garrett," she whispers as I move to her and crush my lips against hers. She surrenders completely to me. Her body is like an instrument beneath my fingers, reacting perfectly as I touch an kiss the places on her body that I know she loves to be stimulated.

I carry her to our bed, pulling the dress over her head. She looks up at me with a gleam in her eye and unfastens my pants. I spring free already aroused and ready, never breaking eye contact. She licks up my swollen shaft and engulfs me between her beautiful lips.

I moan her name, "Monica…" as she travels the length of my cock and takes me all the way in. I know what she wants, she loves my taste. I grip her head and thrust deep into her throat, she swallows around it and moans against me in pleasure. I start to flex and twitch in her mouth, a signal of what is to come and she increases her pace, she wants it… all of it.

I gasp as my orgasm hits me, it washes over me like a wave and I unload in her mouth. Monica knows me so well she is ready and takes all I have to give. I see her hand has travelled between her legs while the other is tugging and twisting her already erect nipples.

I slide out of her mouth and pull my shirt off, the scars of a thousand battles crisscross my torso but she never seemed to care. She kisses my chest, tracing the scars with her fingers. She knows them all, and suffered with me through each one, they are our scars.

I ease her back onto the bed and slide on top of her. Her legs wrap around my waist urging me to take her, to make her mine again. I thrust forward and we become one. Moving with singular purpose, our lovemaking has a hint of desperation coupled with desire.

I bring her to climax quickly but don't stop, I slow until it starts to ebb then speed up causing rolling waves of ecstasy to rush over her. I suckle on her nipples and grip her hips as I drive into her, willing her to feel my desire.

She moans and wails in pleasure as I bring her to her final climax. She clamps down on me and I release everything I have into her. I moan lustfully into her as I wind down. I roll off of her and she snuggles into me, sighing contentedly. We make love all afternoon and well into the night. She is asleep when I slip out to leave. I leave my shirt on the edge of the bed, knowing she wears it to bed when I'm gone since it smells like me.

.

.

.

I shake myself out of the memory and I'm back in my Spartan room. I look down at my wrists and see the same cufflinks that she gave me, the ones I wear every day. That and my wedding band I wear on a chain around my neck are all I have left of her. It was the sacrifice I made to keep her safe, I couldn't protect her and I couldn't let anything happen to her because of me, not to my Monica.

Sighing I stand back up and check Katrina's clip. Time to get back to work.

There is a knock at my door and I move to answer, hoping it is one of the others with some information that can't wait. I am surprised to see Edward standing there. "I'm busy, what do you want?" I growl at him.

"To help, can I come in?" The kid stands his ground, I don't trust him but I let him in.

"Make it quick, I have a meeting in an hour." I check the progress of the search, 1977 records found. Damn, it's a big list to whittle down.

Edward walks in and gets right to the point. "I came to offer my help. I assume you have some leads, I'd like to take a look and see what me and my team can come up with…"

"Your team?" I cut him off, "What team is that? Listen kid, I appreciate the gesture but quite frankly, I don't trust you. I don't respect you, hell I don't even really like you. So why don't you do us all a favor and stay out of my way and let a professional handle this?"

"Garrett wait, listen…" He has nothing else I want to hear, I freeze as he grabs my arm, I'm in no mood for this today. "LISTEN TO ME!" he yells as he spins me around. I relent and hear him out.

"Okay, kid, you have five minutes… dazzle me." I sit down and regard him coolly.

"I can't go into a lot of details but I have access to resources you don't. Let me help." I read his eyes, I can't tell if he is sincere or not, but I have to risk it.

"Okay, kid, but if you cross me or I find out you are caught up in this I will bury you where no one will ever find you." I make sure he knows I'm not kidding as I pick up Katrina from the table and put her back in the holster I always wear. I tell him what I know, he nods when I finish and moves to the door. "Where are you going?" I ask him.

"To see what I can flush out with this info. I'll be at your meeting in an hour." He leaves my room, I wonder what kind of resources he is talking about having that I don't have access to. Screw it; I have bigger worries right now.

I sort through the list, trying to group them by affiliation, and likelihood. I narrow it down to about three hundred possible subjects, fifty likely candidates. Still too many to weed through in the timeframe I have.

.

We meet in the den where just hours ago we were enjoying the various Christmas traditions of each family. I hope they all have something that will help me narrow the list. Edward is present as he promised and looks ready for action.

"Okay, let's go down the list. Ben, what did you get from the car's sensor data?" I look at Ben who has hastily set up a laptop to a projector and shows his results on the screen.

"Data from the car confirms that she stopped on the road, exited the vehicle for approximately three minutes and then got back in and drove away at a high rate of speed. The rear impact happened right before she left the road and impacted the tree. Sensors show she exited the car and that is all I get from the sensors." He looks up at me, "But the cameras are a different story. I tapped into the backup camera and caught the car that hit her. I was able to pull the plate, it was a fake but that isn't the interesting part. See here?" He points to the chrome grill, "It caught the reflection of the rearview mirror through the back windshield. I got the driver and passenger of the car." He switches the screen to an obviously blown up and scrubbed image of two men. One, the larger, was driving and the smaller was pointing, obviously giving the other instructions.

"Who are they?" I scan my list, I know the names and faces of each one of my suspects but these two do not look familiar. Ben shrugs, he has nothing.

Edward tosses a thick file onto the table in front of me. "May I introduce to you the Whitlock brothers, Emmett and Jasper." He regards my look of surprise and continues. "Real winners, these guys. Emmett, the larger of the two, is the muscle. No formal training but he makes up for that in raw power and brutality. He has used the alias Em in the past and has had run-ins with the law over weapons violations, assaults, and is the prime suspect in at least five murders." Edward takes a breath and continues, "His brother Jasper is the brains of this particular partnership. Don't let his size fool you, he is a master in at least six forms of martial arts and was diagnosed at age twelve with antisocial personality disorder with psychotic tendencies. The man is a total lunatic, the difference with him is, he gets off on inflicting pain, literally." Edward's face has an expression of disgust as he continues.

He motions to Ben to move to the next slide in the presentation. "This is Michael Newton. He occasionally does work with these two charming fellows. Recognize him Garrett? You should, he's the last guy to see Bella's mother alive. This guy is the lynchpin that brings this all together. Trouble is, the guy is a ghost. He didn't even exist until three years ago and finding out who he really is just isn't possible in the timeframe we have. Near as I can tell his real name has been lost but he does have a regular phone number he checks in with." The number flashes across the screen. "And we did a trace on it, it's a throwaway phone so we don't know who owns it but we know where it is." He looks at me, "and I have a preliminary assault plan laid out and a team list set for your go/no-go."

"Wait a minute; I'm not tipping my hand on this person if she isn't there." I see him look at Jake. "What am I missing?"

Edward nods to Jake and Alice, "Show him." He sits down and tries to look relaxed. He's edgy though, eager to do something. _Learn to relax kid, take your time and think things through. You'll live longer._

Jake tosses some photos on the table…. "Satellite surveillance on the area the phone is at in the last seventy two hours. As you can see, the van we are looking for arrived there shortly after Bella's abduction. Two other cars have arrived as well but the good part is, no one has left, so Ben has calculated an 89% chance she is there."

Demetri jumps right in next. "Infrared and thermographs indicate the presence of several armed guards and hardened machine gun emplacements. This is not warehouse, this is fortress, and is tighter than Fort Knox's butthole…" He looks to Jake for approval on the cliché and gets a head shake. "Well … is sealed up tight," he finishes lamely.

Alice finishes the briefing with a grave expression. "Garrett, all analysis indicates she has lost a lot of blood. Three pints as near as we can gather, if they stopped the bleeding she can survive but she needs medical attention and fast. Ben calculated a sixty-eight percent survival rate at the time she was removed from the clearing."

I pinch the bridge of my nose and address them all. "Okay this is actually very good; give me your plan, Edward, and the team list. Assemble them outside in ten minutes for a briefing while I go over this. Later you and I are going to discuss where you are getting your info and where exactly you got a team in the first place." I am still wary of Edward but I want him close on this, if he is involved in any way… Well it won't be the first time I had to do house cleaning.

I look over the plan and make a few tweaks for the sake of making them. It is a solid plan but I'm not about to use it completely unmodified. I remove four of his team members at random and replace them with my own guys. I also add Jake and Demetri to the list and have them in the communications van with Alice and Ben. They had done the work and they deserve some involvement but I want them far from the action. This would call for finesse and experience, like it or not Edward is my best chance to achieve that.

We were ready to go, outfitted and loaded up. Everyone knew their jobs and the operation would go like clockwork. Any surprises would be dealt with on the ground. We drove to the area in silence, each one of us mentally preparing for the coming battle. When the vehicle stops we all know what to do.

_Hang in there kid, we're coming._

I make my way across the open ground, focused on the main building. I hear distant gunfire and explosions, indicating the other members of the team were engaging the fortresses defenses, but I stay focused. I glance to my right and see Edward is focused too. Maybe this kid isn't so bad after all.

We hit the door and neutralize the two guards there. I go through first and make my way up the narrow staircase to the floor above. Ben's analysis of the schematic indicated the second floor was the most likely area for Bella to be held since it had suitable rooms in place to be used as holding areas.

As I come through the door I immediately take cover. Gunfire comes in my direction but it is rushed. The person shooting doesn't know how to take his time, to aim and make the shot count. I give him a free lesson. Katrina is in my hand and roaring her call for vengeance as I cut down anyone in my way. I catch a glimpse of the Whitlock brothers running with another figure making good their escape once they know they are overrun.

I see the cell, it is the only room with a sturdy door and I had been in enough interrogations to know a holding area when I see one. The lock is simple and once the floor is secure I cautiously enter. Edward is close behind me; we both stop short when confronted with what is in the room.

It is Bella, or what is left of her, they have her wired up to a control box via needles in her skin and Michael Newton is holding the controls.

Without thinking I bring Katrina to bear on the control box, the shot blows the box apart and Michael dives for cover. Edward moves to Bella to check her for vitals, and starts performing CPR. I look at her lying there, broken, bruised and bleeding. She may not survive, hell she may not even be alive. I turn back to her tormentor in the corner of the room. He had the power just a few moments ago, now he is mine.

_Garrett calm down, you know how your temper gets…_

I hear her voice in my head, my Monica; she always knew how to calm me down. Not this time baby, this time it has to be this way. I'm just glad you aren't here to see it. I point Katrina at Newton and motion for him to come out of hiding. He's caught and he knows it.

"Don't kill me man. I surrender." He holds his hands up as he steps out. I see him standing there and imagine all the things he must have done to Bella while we were trying to find her. I put Katrina away and move to him, my hand encircles his throat and I pull him within inches of my face.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to kill you. You'll remember I said that an hour from now when you are begging me to do just that." My hand tightens… the world goes red.

And then 'The Rage' comes…

_***AN***_  
**Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winners on TLS!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of sexual, violent and disturbing situations that may be upsetting to some readers. While I understand this may not be for all readers and I welcome all reviews, I am not interested in entertaining insults or opinions that do not pertain to the entire story. Please keep in mind that as the author I do know where I plan on taking the story and what is necessary to get me there. With that said, please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related.**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 21**

I grin to myself as Bella retreated from the room, embarrassed and flustered. I'm not sure why, but I really enjoy picking on her; not in a permanent damage kind of way but a battle of wits and one-upping each other. It was an intricate web of mutual respect, infuriating frustration and grudging admiration we have for each other.

"Edward Cullen, you did that on purpose!" Shenani gets up in my face. "Bella tried to give us all an amazing gift, a Christmas that we could all feel welcome and at home with, and you used her giving spirit against her!" Her face is flushed, as her verbal onslaught is joined by the others.

"Not cool man…" Jake backs up Shenani.

"What possible reason would you have for doing that?" Ben seems perplexed.

"You always do this, why can't we just have a good time for once?" Alice is close to tears.

"Yes, you are real tit-ass!" Demetri looks pleased with his insult until the others look at him confused. "Is not nice what he did…" he mumbles.

"C'mon guys, that was priceless. Did you see her face? After all, she started this little back and forth…" I trail off as my mother catches my eye.

"Edward, dear, a word?" Her tone leaves no room for interpretation, this is not a request.

I follow her and my father Carlisle into an adjacent room and am taken aback by my father's normally calm demeanor being replaced by raw anger.

"What in the actual fuck is wrong with you?" he snarls at me in hushed tones. "Are you trying to alienate your entire family from this organization? Or has your mother coddled you so much that you don't even realize anymore when you are acting like complete idiot?"

"Carlisle, I think we can salvage this, after all it was simply a…" My mother stops talking when my father catches her eye and moves a hand to his ring. It is a signal I know well, not many people are aware, but my quiet unassuming father is the dominant in their relationship and my mother is submissive to him. He would twist his ring as a signal to her that she is on thin ice. If the ring came off, well mother never let it come to that; not after the first time.

"I am going to go back inside and apologize to Charles for your behavior." My father looks at my mother and growls, "Deal with this; I don't expect to have to discuss this again." And he walks out of the room.

"Edward, you can't keep acting this way. Your position in the organization is tenuous at best; having not been accepted into any faction is something you and this girl have in common. I don't understand why you feel the need to pick on her so much." My mother glares at me the way she did when I was a kid and had done something wrong. She doesn't understand and I can't tell her. My position in the organization is more secure than anyone's, even hers.

"I'll take care of it, you don't have to worry." I try to placate her; I have things to do and can't be bothered with this.

"See that you do, I'm not running interference for you on this again." She kisses my cheek as she walks past. "You are a Cullen, Edward. Like it or not, that name means something here and you need to live up to it." She leaves me alone standing there with my secrets.

I go back to the party and lay low, I don't want to anger my father anymore and no one was really interested in engaging in conversation with the social pariah I have made myself with the ill-conceived prank on Bella. I notice Charles leave abruptly after a call and curiously follow. He waits by the front door and after a brief exchange with Garrett I overhear what had happened. Someone had taken Bella, there was no point in jumping in right now, I had to get permission first from the only people that matter in my particular position.

I slip out to a secluded area and make a call on my phone. I haven't had to use this number yet but I know the protocol. It rang twice before a nondescript voice picked up.

"Identify."

"Cullen, Edward; Twenty-one Eight Seven." I reply

"Wait one." The line goes dead I know what to expect.

Two minutes later my phone rings and I pick it up. "Report." The no-nonsense voice intones.

"I have a member abduction: Swan, Bella. Request permission to involve myself, possible need to requisition a team for assault and extract. I need to gather more intel but my timeline is four hours." I breathe evenly as I wait for the response.

"Wait one…" The line is quiet as my request is considered through whatever channels my particular faction uses. "Intel gathering approved, further interaction prohibited pending conference with faction lead. Conference call scheduled twenty minutes from now, details will be sent to your phone." The line goes dead as my phone beeps and begins downloading the encrypted details of my meeting. Nineteen minutes, I have to move fast.

I go searching for the others. Their talents will be useful to me in such a short window; anyone else would take too long to get here. I round a corner and catch the tail-end of Garrett assigning tasks to them. It seems he has the same idea I have. I take advantage of it and am happy he has saved me the trouble of explaining things to them. I wait until he is gone before I step out and address them.

"Guys, I know you are pissed at me. I might deserve it but right now I want to help." I look at their faces, they are concerned for Bella and hopefully that means they will take all the help they can get.

"How are you planning on helping?" Jake is speaking for the group now that I am on the outs with them.

"We don't have time to get into that right now, just please share anything you come up with so I can bounce it off my resources." I text Jake my private cell number and tell them to send information to me as they get it; I have a meeting to get to.

.

.

.

I lock myself in an office with two minutes to spare and start to gather my thoughts. I have never had a reason to confer with the head of the Black Collars since my indoctrination. The assassination and elite special operations faction; no one even knew of its existence unless you were a member or informed on a 'need to know' basis. Right now, no one needed to know.

My phone beeps and the video conference begins. The image of a strikingly beautiful woman behind a desk comes into focus. She is the most feared and capable assassin in Black Collars. Sabrina Epperson is as ruthless as she is beautiful and as deadly as she is intelligent. I know this meeting will make or break me, she will dissect and read into anything that is said, I have to be very careful.

"Mr. Cullen, I have been briefed on your request and require some details as well as justification from you. Why should I allow you to risk exposure for a cause that is, quite frankly, not something I can see benefiting our faction in any way?" Her words are clipped and succinct. This is not going to be easy, and if I get my way I will be indebted to this woman, a dangerous position at best, a fatal one at worst.

"I am attempting to ingratiate myself to Mr. Swan since my current relationship with Bella is not one that fosters trust. I also see her as a potential recruit since, like me, she was not accepted by any faction. She has value…" even as I say the words I see the corners of Ms. Epperson's lips twitch in a half-hidden smile.

"Value? What value is that? All reports I have received state that she is unsuitable for any of the known factions and what successes she has had are inconsistent anomalies. So unless 'blind luck' is going to become a new skillset we value, I fail to see the point in continuing this conversation." She moves to terminate the call; my window of opportunity is closing.

"Wait, there is one more thing. Based on the knowledge I have gathered, there is evidence that indicates this is the work of someone attacking the organization." That is a stretch but I am desperate. "This falls directly under our mandate to protect members of the organization from any potential outside threat, an oath we both swore before God. It's an oath I take seriously, as I know you do too." I am on shaky ground here and we both know it.

"Don't you dare think to impugn my honor, boy!" Her eyes are livid at my dangerous inference. "I will decide what constitutes a 'potential threat'. However, your words, though chosen foolishly, may have merit. Standard conditions will apply, no one is to know of this group's existence and should you be compromised you will cease to be useful to us. I will provide you with a twelve man team and use of the restricted files for your investigation. Oh, and Edward, dear…"

"Yes Ms. Epperson?" I know what her next words will be before she says them.

"If this turns out to be a simple abduction, or a childish prank on Ms. Swan's part to get attention, well then you will have wasted my time. Worse yet, you will have wasted the time and resources of this branch of the organization. I don't think I need to tell you what that means do I?" She frowns at me and I feel a chill down my spine. She disconnects the call before I can answer. The message is clear.

My next stop is Garrett's room. It goes about as well as expected but I get enough info to get started, the details the others will provide would round out my search and allow me to pinpoint the who and the where. The why would require a more subtle approach.

The steady stream of info allows me to put together a fairly simple assault and retrieval plan. I know Garrett would want to make a few cosmetic changes but it is a sound plan and he will see the value of it once he is brought up to speed.

I run all the iterations of the letters Bella had left as clues and plug them into the Black Collar mainframe. The most sophisticated search algorithms and artificial intelligence in the world go to work analyzing every detail and compiling a list of suspects and probabilities. I am shocked that I receive a list of probable suspects as long as my arm. I change the parameters to a ninety percent probability or higher, I have a lot riding on this, there is no room for error.

The results come through quickly and provide me with a short list, a very short list. Only two individuals fit the profile with the parameters I provide. I retrieve their file and pursue it as I print it out. As I read I have a sinking feeling that we are running out of time. These characters are no joke; they are sadistic and as vicious as they come.

I think to myself for the first time that Bella may already be dead. She is of no further use to them alive if all they want is to press an engagement. I can only hope that they have some other purpose in store for her; something that will force them to keep her alive until we can get to her. I try to think of what that might be, but come up blank. I try and hold onto the thought that maybe I am missing something.

.

.

.

By the time we finish our meeting and all the findings are revealed to Garrett, I know for certain we are dealing with the Whitlock brothers. The picture Ben pulled from the car's camera is unmistakable next to the other evidence we have. I run it through the system to see what the odds are now and it comes back at three one-thousandths of a percentile point shy of a perfect match. We have the who and the where, it is time to get the why.

I prepare my team with Garrett's updated mission plan and bring the new people Garrett had insisted on from his security team up to speed. We are waiting to go when my mother messages me and requests a word before I leave with the team. I meet her and my Father in the same room I had been reprimanded in just hours earlier. My mother embraces me and seems nervous.

"Edward, I have spoken to Charles, no one expects you to accompany the team on the rescue operation; you have already done so much. I don't know where you acquired the team or the information you have gathered in such a short time. I have been a member of this organization long enough to know better than to ask. But you need to step back from this, if it ends badly I don't want our family associated with it. We can't afford to have an enemy like Charles Swan or Garrett for that matter." She can tell from my face that she is wasting her breath but she has to try.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Mother. Did it ever occur to you that I might succeed, and in so doing, forge a new alliance between our two families? Think about it. If I am successful, our families will be joined and unstoppable within the organization. If I fail, well then believe me when I tell you that will not be a problem you will have to deal with for long. Other parties have taken a greater interest in the outcome of this than you or father." I have said as much as I am going to on that front, I hope it is not too much.

"What does that mean? Is someone threatening you son?" My father is a quiet man but he would not let something like that pass.

"No father, I have made commitments to get me as far as I have." I move to leave. "We all have. I'm seeing this through." I leave before they can talk me out of it. I hear my mother break down and cry as I close the door. I can't think about that now, I have work to do.

I travel in silence to the location the assault will take place. I am going over the steps in my mind, listening to the drone in my ear from the command center. Ben gives a play by play of sentry movements and any changes in positioning of defenses since our last update during the briefing a short time ago. I am ready to do what I have to, my training is kicking in; I control my breathing and check the clip in my sidearm. I check the chamber for a round even though I know it is there. I notice some of the older, more experienced men watching me, likely thinking 'Who is this kid?' or 'Greenie' at my nervous habits. I force myself to relax and stop fidgeting.

The vehicle stops and we wait for the all clear to move out. We disperse silently and take up our positions waiting on the go or no go call from Ben. We don't wait long, phase one is given the green light and the men selected to engage the outer defensive structures strike hard.

Flashbangs and unsuppressed machinegun fire split the eerie silence. If our opponents have any sense they will know they are under attack in seconds and will respond with textbook defensive tactics.

They fall for the distraction just as predicted. These men are not disciplined soldiers; they are guns for hire, loyal to a paycheck and little else. Their egos will not allow them to retreat until it is too late, they will be overrun before they even know the battle is lost. I feel a tap at my arm, Garrett is signaling us to move out.

We have a straight run across the open ground to the main building. The sounds of battle around us and the screams of the dying as defensive positions are overrun. I let my training kick in completely and carry me through the field of battle. We encounter little resistance; the sentries at the door go down to Garrett's and my bullets. I notice he is using his large caliber pistol and give no thought to the loud report that gives our position away with every squeeze of the trigger. My own weapon, a heavily modified and suppressed H&K Mp5 nine-millimeter sub-machine gun is just as efficient even if it is a little more subtle. I keep a mental tally of rounds and cycle my weapon expertly when I start to run dry.

Garrett stops checking on me after the first few engagements and we settle into a lethal rhythm of death as we move through the building. We meet our foes on their own ground and dispatch them with lethal efficiency, leaving the bodies where they fall.

We come to a room that could not have looked more obviously like a holding cell if it had been decorated with a neon sign that said 'Captives Here!' We swing the door open and enter in a defensive posture. 'Slicing the pie' as the old SWAT term went, we check the corners behind us as we enter. I take stock of the room and see Bella on the ground; she is beat to hell and does not appear to be breathing. Garrett nods to me to take care of her as he moves to take control of the figure surrendering at the back of the room.

I drop my weapon on the table and tear off my gloves and Kevlar balaclava. I check her for vitals and find none. I do a quick check of her injuries and determine that at least three ribs are broken. CPR is out; I would kill her just by doing chest compressions. I clear her airway and begin artificial respiration. I key my communications lash between breaths and call for a medic. She needs more care than I can give her; I just have to keep her brain alive until help arrives.

"Come on Bella, breathe…." I breathe into her mouth again; I see her chest rise and fall.

_Nothing!_

"Goddammit, Bella, you have to breathe!" I am getting light headed, even in the physical shape I am in there is no way I will be able to keep this up for long. My own lungs are on fire but adrenaline is keeping me going. I keep breathing into her, still getting nothing.

"Just breathe Bella … one breath, that's all I ask ..."

Nothing ... She is gone, we're too late.

_***AN***_  
**Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winners on TLS!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of sexual, violent and disturbing situations that may be upsetting to some readers. While I understand this may not be for all readers and I welcome all reviews, I am not interested in entertaining insults or opinions that do not pertain to the entire story. Please keep in mind that as the author I do know where I plan on taking the story and what is necessary to get me there. With that said, please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related.**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Chapter 22**

**Bella**

_There is nothing… no more pain, no more worry. Just peace._

"Come on Bella! Breathe! Just one breath …" Edward's voice is unmistakable.

_No! Go away! They can't hurt me anymore._

"This is Edward, I have her, no vitals, I need a medic now!" He is wasting his time; death has me and will not let me go.

I gasp as all the sensations come rushing back all at once. The pain, the torment, all of it slams into me like a train. I draw a ragged breath, my lungs are on fire; Death's face fades from view as my vision clears and I look up and see Edward leaning over me. His face is red and creased with worry, he is barking orders at someone.

"I got her back, I need oxygen now!" He looks down at me. "Bella, stay with me, we're going to get you out of here. Just hang in there." He cradles my head and someone slips an oxygen mask over my face.

The sweet smell of the oxygen hits me and the rest of my senses start to clear. I begin to notice things as I become more aware of my surroundings. Medics are working on me and Edward is holding my hand as they stabilize and tend to my injuries. I am still in the same room, but my tormentors are gone. I see Garrett in the back of the room; he has Newt by the throat and is saying something to him. I smile to myself, I warned him, Garrett will make him suffer for what he has done, Garrett will make him pay.

Then they would all pay for what they have done, Jasper, Emmett, James.

I would make them pay.

**Garrett**

Michael's eyes bulge as I tighten my grip on him. He has no defensive play here, he struggles to breathe and I let him, just enough to keep him conscious. I have questions for this piece of shit before I educate him on the science of pain.

"You and I are going to have a little talk, and depending on your answer I will decide if you die quick or spend a very long time begging to die." I relax my grip enough for him to answer. He remains silent and I remind him of him options with a chop to his collarbone that yields a satisfying crunch. He cries out and I bring his focus back to me. "This only works when you answer, so let's try this again. Your name is Michael Newton, you murdered Bella's mother correct?" I shake him a little, "You have two hundred and five bones left for me to break, this night can be as long as you want and I've got nothing but time."

He looks up at me "Correct." he mumbles quietly, his eyes shifting around the room as more of our team take up positions. Some are helping stabilize Bella, the rest are ready to act in case of a surprise counterattack.

"Good, now we're getting somewhere." I lift him bodily and slam him down on an empty gurney that is at the back of room. "Strap him down," I order two of my men. They move to comply as I take stock of the tools in the room. I pick up a table that had been knocked over and place it next to where Michael is being strapped down.

I find a box of acupuncture needles, a power drill, a ball peen hammer and various blades. I toss a bone saw and my own handheld cutting torch on the table as well. I find a couple bits for the drill and am aware of Michael watching as I install one of them into the chuck.

"Now the questions get harder, but you look like you are in good shape so you will probably survive long enough to give me what I need." I hit the trigger on the drill and the whine of the motor cuts through the air. "Not that you will want to survive, but I'm a professional."

"I'm not talking; my employer is way scarier than you." His bravado is expected, he hasn't experienced any kind of serious pain yet so there is still the chance I am bluffing. "There is nothing you can do to me that will make me cross him."

The color drains from his face as I remove all doubt that I'm bluffing.

"Challenge accepted."

I start with the hammer: toes, hands, shins, knees; anywhere the bones are close to the surface and will shatter easily. It does not take long before he gives up the name of his employer.

_James Witherdale?_

I know the name, a damn ghost from the past that I thought I had laid to rest. I pick up the power drill and put it against his shattered kneecap. "You'd better start making sense or I'm going to install hinges where your knees used to be." I rev the drill for a few seconds, he screams in agony and starts talking.

"It was faked, he's alive and he's coming for you. You think this is the end of it? He's already five steps ahead of you. Your entire organization will burn to the ground and he's holding the matches." He is weak from the pain I have inflicted but I have the medics shoot him up with something to keep him alert while I continue my grim task.

"Let's talk about the Whitlock brothers now…" I bring the welding torch to within inches of his face before igniting it, the telltale hiss and snap that signals to him something very unpleasant is about to happen.

"First off, let's talk about Emmett. I assume he did most of the beating?" I run the torch down his chest and the sizzle followed by the smell of burning skin makes my point.

"Yes… YES! It was him, I didn't do it! It was Emmett and Jasper... I saw them do it!" He is whimpering now, anything he says is suspect since I have crossed the threshold of pain he can tolerate. The man would confess to crucifying Christ right now if I asked him.

"So you didn't do it? You just watched?" I stop burning his chest as he nods and whines softly.

"Please…"

"So it seems the offending part is right here then…." I jam the torch into his right eye as he screams again. I torch his other eye before he gets a chance to recover. Mine is the last face he sees before I take his sight.

I wait for him to stop screaming and I check on Bella, she is alert and the medics are stabilizing her. They give me a brief rundown of her injuries and then my blood runs cold when they inform me of the extent of the assault. I turn back to Michael lying on the gurney and grab him by his hair.

Everything goes red.

I drag him off the gurney and he hits the floor, the restraints stopped being necessary after the first few minutes of my interrogation. I start hitting him, my mind going over the fourteen facial bones as I start shattering them one by one. I'm roaring at him in a rage.

"WHO WAS IT? ANSWER ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT! WHICH ONE OF YOU WAS IT? WHO IS THE ASSHOLE WHO JUST SIGNED HIS OWN DEATH WARRANT? WAS IT YOU? ANSWER ME!"

"_Garrett…"_

His body is limp in my hands but he is still conscious, his face is barely recognizable as I reach for the bone saw. I'm ready to cut his head off but I will get the answer to my question, one way, or another…

"_Garrett…"_

I ignore the voice; Monica isn't talking me out of it this time. She's gone; the voice is just a memory. I'll take a hand off, that'll get him talking. I position the blade at his wrist and start cutting.

"GARRETT!"

Bella's voice snaps me out of 'The Rage', I'm surprised since no one but my Monica was ever able to do that before. I drop the saw and go over to Bella; she looks so small on the portable stretcher they have her on, ready to get her out of here.

"I'm right here kid. How are you doing? Tell me what you need." I am relieved to see how alert she seems. Her color has improved and she is starting to look like the Bella I remember, but her next words tell me that she is not the same person at all.

"He hurt me Garrett, they all did. Make them pay, promise me you'll make them pay? I'd do it myself but, I'm not strong enough." There are tears in her eyes, I kiss her forehead and promise her.

"Don't worry, kid, I got this. They'll pay, all of them. I promise." There is a lump in my throat, I had let this happen to her, I would make it right.

The medics start to transport her but I stop them. "Hang on one minute." I walk back over to Michael's broken body. I pull him close to my face and whisper.

"You have one chance to survive this you piece of shit. You will beg her to forgive you, if she does, I will turn you over to the cops and you will spend the rest of your life in jail. If not… well we both know what happens then." I drag him over to the stretcher and point his sightless eyes at Bella. "Last chance Newton…" I shove him forward.

"Ms. Swan? I'm so sorry about your mother. It wasn't personal, it was just a job. I was just following orders. He sobs in fear and pain as blood drips on the floor from his ruined face and the stump of his left wrist. He whines and reaches out to her feeling the air as he tries in vain to see with his empty eye sockets. "Please…."

I look up at Bella and she is regarding Michael's ruined face with a cold detachment. "Newt, you made a choice when you involved yourself in the vendetta against my family. That choice was that you did not want to live anymore. Garrett, will you please explain things to him?"

I nod and grab Michael's head; he has time for a brief "No! Wait…" before I snap his neck with a quick twist and a very satisfying crunch of bone. I look back at Bella as they carry her out and her eyes are closed but a small smile graces her swollen lips.

Damn you all for turning her into a monster … like me.

**Bella**

There is no feeling when I watch Newt's lifeless body fall to the floor. No sense of satisfaction, fulfillment or even pleasure. I am surprised by this, I am not a violent person by nature but I always thought that taking the life of my mother's killer would bring me some semblance of peace. Where was the sense of closure? There was only a grim determination, _one down, three more to go._ I don't say it aloud but I am thinking in my head what I will need to do to set my world right again.

_They have to die, all of them._

Emmett and Jasper Whitlock, James Witherdale for certain, I am not certain if more will be necessary but they are the sure targets. I am a little loopy from the painkillers that are starting to do their work. I see Garrett and Edward talking and I sigh knowing they will help me exact my revenge. I allow myself a small smile, next time I will take a more active role in my revenge, that will give me the closure I need … Why am I so sleepy? Oh right, the drugs. Garrett is here now, so I'm safe, he's invincible, nothing can hurt him.

I sleep, then I'm safe, I know I'm safe …

.

.

.

I wake up in the infirmary of The Compound. I recognize it from the few stops I have made here during training accidents; cuts and such things usually, but this time I am getting the full treatment. Both my legs are in casts and I am hooked up to a wide variety of intravenous tubes, painkillers as well as something to keep my hydrated.

I see Garrett and my father talking at the end on the bed in hushed tones and Edward is sleeping in a chair next to the bed, a decent growth of beard indicates I have been out for longer than I think. Garrett sees my eyes open and motions to my father that I'm awake.

"Bella, you're awake!" My father looks like he hasn't slept in days. But he smiles when he sees I'm awake and looks like a great weight is lifted off his shoulders.

"How long have I been out?" My voice is raspy and I'm surprised at how weak I am.

"Two weeks, the doctors thought it best to keep you in a light coma while your bones started to heal. They have started to set and the worst of the pain is over." My father brushes my hair back and turns to Garrett. "As we discussed, no one gets in the room that is not on the list. You brought her back to me so you are the only one I trust. I have to get back to the investigation, keep me updated on anything she remembers." He turns back to me, "I have to go and update the others but I will be back soon. Garrett and Edward will keep you safe." He kisses my cheek and whispers in my ear. "Do NOT trust anyone but them until we sort this out." He stands and eyes me to make sure I understand. He nods at me once and walks out.

Garrett stands over me and shakes his head after my father leaves. "Always have to do things the hard way don't you kid?" I smile and shrug; what can I say? The man has a point.

"You know me, always such an attention getter." I smile again, "How was Christmas?"

"Better, once we got you back." His face gets serious. "How much do you remember?"

The memories of my ordeal come back all at once, I close my eyes tight and try and shut it out. It doesn't help, the memories are burned into my brain and there is no getting rid of them. I open my eyes and look at Garrett. "Everything, I remember it all." His look softens to one of pity and I am angry that once again, I'm a victim. "Don't look at me like that!" I try and yell but it comes out raspy and weak. "I gave them nothing, not even when they, when he…" I trail off.

Garrett carefully wraps his arms around me and I bury my face in his chest so he can't see the tears. I am humiliated all over again. Weak and filled with despair, I relax as Garrett waits for me to calm down; he strokes my hair and reassures me.

"I know you didn't kid. I know…" He looks down as I pull away and wipe my eyes. "You did good, but I need to ask you some important questions; are you up for that?"

I nod my head and he asks me about my abduction, things that I heard and observed. He nods when I confirm seeing James Witherdale alive and asks me to describe him and his scars. He doesn't ask me about the details of my torture, I am grateful for that. Garrett knows how far I can delve into it and what is off limits without me telling him. He smiles when I tell him how I outsmarted James, I am proud that I had not let him down. I didn't come through this ordeal with much, but my honor is intact.

He is just finishing up when I hear Edward stir in his chair and open his eyes. He jumps to his feet when he sees I am awake and scratches at the growth of beard. "Bella! You're awake!" he glares at Garrett and then looks at me. "He was supposed to wake me up if there was any change."

"That's okay, I had to get caught up on things with him anyway." I look him over, he is disheveled and besides the beard, he looks like he could use a shower. "You look worse than I do, have you been here the whole time?"

Edward stretches and yawns. "Pretty much, seems we can't leave you alone after all. You get into no end of trouble when left to your own devices. "Teasing me about my ordeal would be insensitive from anyone else but it seems normal coming from Edward.

"Watch it Cullen…" Garrett growls, "She's been through enough without your crap …"

"It's okay Garrett; I'm tougher than I look." I smile at him to let him know it's alright.

"That's cute; does he do any other tricks? I had a dog once that could roll over." Edward doesn't know when to quit.

"I'll roll over you anytime punk." Garrett is only half serious; I guess that is progress.

"Garrett, can you leave us alone for a minute? I need to talk to Bella." He looks at Garrett and tries to assure him, "It won't take long, five minutes that's it."

Garrett looks at me and I nod my approval. "I'll go get some coffee, I'll be right back." He closes the door behind him; I don't have to see the guards to know they were outside the door. Only Garrett's most trusted men would have pulled this guard detail, I am sure of that.

Edward turns to me and pulls a device from his pocket that looks like a smartphone. I wince, remembering the last time I was handed one of these and this whole mess that was my new life began. I accept it and it beeps to life in my hand, the Tri-Ring symbol flashes across the screen and I am connected to a video conference session. The image on the screen changes to a strikingly beautiful woman behind a desk. She wore a black business suit and had dark hair and very piercing eyes.

"Ms. Swan, I hope you are well. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Sabrina Epperson and I am the leader of the fourth faction of The Gentlemen. This faction is the militant wing that handles internal investigations, black ops and any other sensitive matters that the organization prefers there to be no official record of. As such, we are not widely known of, and our existence is never confirmed by those that do know of us. We are known as the Black Collars. It was Mr. Cullen that contacted us to use our resources to assist with your retrieval when you were abducted. He seems to think that you would be an asset to our faction, and after reading his report on how you handled yourself, I am inclined to agree." The woman pauses, obviously expecting me to say something.

"Ummm, thank-you?" I manage feebly, some 'great asset' I am. I can barely form a coherent thought under this woman's gaze. She favors me with a smile and continues.

"I would like to take this time to offer you membership into our faction. Obviously this is not something we want shared, but you have already more than proven your ability to keep secrets when needed." She leans forward and folds slender hands with perfectly manicured nails in front of her. "Rest and heal Ms. Swan. The Black Collars will see to it you come to no harm until you are well and able to make your decision. I look forward to meeting you in person when you are able. Good day." The screen goes dark.

Edward takes the device back and slips it in a pocket. "Edward are you …?" I begin curiously.

"One of the Black Collars? Yes, I am. This is not an offer that is given to many Bella. You need to consider carefully what you want to do with this honor that is being given to you." He is very serious, not teasing me like he usually does.

"More secrets? More responsibility? Will you please stop doing me favors?" I just want to heal up and forget about this life for a while and I get this laid on me? What the hell is he thinking?

"Please, just think about it." Edward looks up as Garrett walks back in with two cups in his hand. He hands one to Edward who gulps it down and then looks at him questioningly.

"Chocolate milk, they didn't have a sippy cup but I brought you a straw…." He pulls out a straw and tosses it to Edward who bats it away.

"Very funny." Edward grins and drinks the chocolate milk.

I smile and motion them to come closer. They bend down to hear me as my voice is barely a whisper; the little use I have given it is more than it has had for the last two weeks but what I have to say is important. "I want to thank you both, for saving my life." I kiss each of them on the forehead and nestle back into the pillow. I am tired but I know I am safe, I can heal, become strong and then, with these two helping me, I will have my revenge.

I will make them pay.

_***AN***_  
**Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winners on TLS!**


	23. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Twilight related**

**Thank-you to my lovely wife Cutestkidsmom, my pre-reader Pricana, and my beta Eternally Edward's Girl for their help and encouragement.**

**Epilogue**

Over the next several weeks I heal slowly, my father sees to it I am given the best care and either Garrett or Edward are never out of sight. I am almost relieved when my leg casts come off and I can walk to the bathroom and get a few moments of solitude. I do a quick inventory and see a few areas where I will have scars but aside from that there are no outward indications of the ordeal I have been through.

Garrett does not attempt to discuss the details of my ordeal with me after that first time. He never discusses the gritty details with anyone else, near as I can tell. People look at you differently when they know you have been hurt like that, he understands that and no one, not even my father gives me that look but him. Edward presses me for details every once and awhile, when I start to get angry with him Garrett always appears and interrupts, I know he is watching all the time now and I am grateful.

The others come by every so often and bring me gifts, Demetri brings me a watch that reminds me of a secret agent movie I saw once, it has a retractable garrote built into it as well as toxic and disabling darts. Jake stops in and brings me a sketch book, we talk tattoo designs and he says he will be happy to ink any design I want to hide any scars. I smile knowing I will never hide them; they are constant reminders that I have work to do.

Shenani skips in with stuffed animals and chocolate, flowers and balloons, I think to myself if someone does come to kill me, they will have a hard time finding me in the forest of gifts that threaten to bury me. By her third visit I have so many stuffed bears I am fairly certain if I jump behind them they would absorb anything short of a rocket propelled grenade.

Alice brings me reading material; magazines, classics, novels and even a newspaper clipping of my car in the woods and the creative cover story that was obviously the work of the organization's public relations division. I wonder if Alice's mother, Emily spun the story herself or if it was one of her underlings; I suppose it doesn't matter.

Ben shows up with a laptop that he has fully customized and loaded with a variety of his favorite games. He shows me a few of them and I especially enjoy the 'create your own superhero' game. I create a badass female hero, she is everything I wished I was; strong, invulnerable, never a victim and always sure of herself no matter the situation. I imagine my tormentors as I wade through digital enemies, dispatching them with ruthless abandon. I make it to the leader and after a brief fight I am presented a choice, bring him to the police and serve justice or take the vigilante option and exact justice myself. I see Jasper's face as the villain begs for mercy; the screen goes red as I make my choice.

He never had a chance, I don't do mercy anymore.

Edward tells me about the events that have transpired since the raid on the compound that enabled them to secure my release. He tells me how Jasper, Emmett and James managed to escape after a brief shootout that claimed the lives of three members of the rescue team. I secretly added the taking of those lives to the list of wrongs that I would right when I caught up with them.

My father comes to see me, we play chess and he keeps me up to date on what has been going on. He reveals to me that there is no way the circumstances of my abduction was a coincidence. They have determined what I have suspected all along, I was set up by Rose. She disappeared while the raid was happening and they lost track of her when she crossed into Massachusetts. She could be anywhere now; looking at the bright side it gave us more targets to hunt. This increases our chances of finding one of them, which in turn will lead us to the others. I add her to my list, any friendship we may have had is forgotten in an instant. I am amazed at how easily my new attitude moves people from the category of friend to foe. Moments ago I would have expected Rose to visit me in the infirmary, now I will kill her if I see her again.

My father and I exchange small talk and he passes on well wishes from The Board, Carlisle Cullen and Norman Cheney. He mentions as well that Vladamir was asking about my recovery as well and is relieved to hear I will be out of the infirmary in a few days. I have been hitting the physical therapy hard and have shown amazing progress. My trainer asked me once if I was on a mission and I smiled like I had no idea what he was talking about.

My father moves his pieces in a defensive posture. He is coddling me; I can tell he is not playing as aggressively as he could be. I take advantage of his opening and put him in a position where he will be check-mated in three moves. He indicates he sees it as well with a grunt of approval. I look up at him and talk to him seriously for the first time since my ordeal.

"Dad I'm going to ask you a question and I think after everything I deserve a straight answer." I watch as he puts the pieces away before turning and answering me.

"Bella, I will always answer you as truthfully as I can. You know that there are some things I can't divulge, I have made a commitment to the organization; we both have." He sits across from me and waits for my question.

I take a deep breath and ask the question that has been on my mind since my abduction; since I was rescued and as I went through my recovery. It was the reason I was tortured and after coming through it all I feel I am owed an explanation.

"Who is GOD?"

_***AN***_

**That is it for Book 1, be sure and follow me as an author on FFN and you will get the update when I start to post Book 2 (Beginning of May 2013 is my target date to start posting) Thank you all for reading.**

**Fic Recommendations - Please check out Salacious and Because of a Boy by Cutestkidsmom (my darling wife) and Love Through Another's Eyes by EternallyEdwardsGirl (My beta). Also check out this weeks FOTW winners on TLS!**


End file.
